A Basket Full of Cards
by skabs
Summary: its been quite some time since kyo and li switched back, now they're all going to the same high school, and sakura just might have the answer to the sohma family curse! COMPLETE!
1. Default Chapter

Heyo! i'm back and i apologize for not doing this sooner!! i've been wrapped up in school, and work, and homework, and sleep! thats all i seem to do anymore... it really bites the big one.

but i've managed to write this, and possibly two more chapters will be forthcoming in the very near future, if i decided i really want to chance having all of you yell at me for one major change i'm about to unveil.

um, for future reference, i do not own fruits basket or cardcaptors, though i do think that they belong to the world (le sigh- as the french say)

if you need to know anything about how the two mangas got mixed in the first place, read my first crossover!

* * *

The girl was standing still, perched on top of the schools outer wall she surveyed the new landscape and scoped out the best meeting place. The lawn was expansive, the trees on the edge had been left alone; they stood as a testament to when the school grounds had once been a park. Students had begun to show, gathered together as they recognized friends from previous years, and they milled around as if acclimating themselves to their new environment. Those who had transferred in had done so from the closest schools in the area, and were, in some way, the best and brightest of those schools. The book worms, she noted, still walked with their heads cast down, while those with adventurous spirits gravitated towards other smiling faces. For once in her life she wasn't going to be late, she'd shown up early enough to scan the crowd and to syke herself up for the new year.

"Sakura!" a deep voice called from below her. Her auburn hair fluttered as wind brushed against a soft cheek when she looked down.

"Syaoran!" she giggled, green eyes twinkling in relief. "Hold on! I'll be right down!" She smirked as he lifted a brow, stepped back, and indicated that he was ready to catch her if she stumbled. But she had the pleasure of wiping the smirk off his face, the implied insult from his tree bark brown eyes, as she floated gently down to land softly on the grass beside him. She looked up with a happy grin.

"Good job." He admitted, brushing her bangs back before kissing her forehead.

"Thanks, I've been practicing. I barely need to ask anymore before the major cards help me." She pulled the WINDY card from her skirt pocket and smiled. The magical card glowed a happy pink before she slipped it back away. She looked up at Syaoran Li and for a second recalled when they had been the same height. He now stood a foot taller than her diminutive five foot three, and though she knew he was tall, it still always gave her a shock to realize how tall. Of course, his mother was almost his height, so she supposed he came by it naturally.

"So Meilin called me a few weeks ago." Sakura began as Li took her hand in his. They started towards the gate of the school together as he chuckled softly.

"Yes. She's told me she's bored in China. She wants to come back to visit." Li shivered suddenly, as if someone had just walked over his grave.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura waved as her friend walked up. Li nodded to the girl and noted the red light blinking on her camcorder.

"You two are so cute!" She tittered and skipped over. Li pulled one of her long black braids and tapped the camera.

"A bit of film making today, are we?" he asked their personal stalker/friend.

"Well, it is the first day of school... Sakura! Those clips are just so adorable in your hair! I knew they would be!" she referred to the fuzzy pink hair ties she'd given Sakura the previous day.

"I know! They are so cute!" Tomoyo grabbed Sakuras other hand and gestured toward the gates.

"So... first day, new term." She looked up at Li and laughed, "I can't wait to see what kind of surprises this year brings!"

* * *

Yuki Sohma yelled up the stairs as his pacing feet picked up momentum.

"Come on Kyo! Tohru! We're going to be late you two!" He hitched his book bag over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of his scowl in the hallway mirror. He rolled his gray eyes and smoothed his gray hair, smoothed his scowl into a neutral expression and opened his mouth to scream again as a blur of orange shot past him. His arm snaked out, grabbed Kyo by the back of his uniform, and tugged to tumble the boy at his feet.

"Now Kyo!" he growled as the teen hissed. Before Kyo could respond to his cousin they both heard the familiar sound of Tohru tripping down the stairs. Kyo shrugged Yuki off and shot out both hands to catch her by the shoulders. Her head rolled limply, her long brown hair hung from the ponytails and curled slightly at the ends as she let out a sigh.

"Thanks Kyo." She smiled, looking up at him and tipping her head to the side.

"No problem. Lets go, we'll be late, Klutz."

"Oh! Sorry!" Tohru grabbed her bag, which she had dropped at the top of the stairs, then tripped over, and grabbed both boys by their hands. They had resolved how to walk to school a long time ago, with Tohru in between the cousins didn't stop to fight every five minutes, and they got where they needed to go in time.

"Have a good day!" a singsong voice came from the library, where the boys other cousin, Shigure, sat working on his new novel.

"Thanks Shigure-san!" Tohru laughed, pulling the boys out the door with her. "A new school! Wow, I'm so excited!" she laughed, her good mood effecting the others the way a typhoon tore down a city.

"You would be." Kyo muttered, resolving to keep to his bad mood as long as he possibly could. It wasn't that he was still living in the same house with his hated cousin that made him so grumpy in the mornings, it was her hand in his... and knowing her other hand was still resting in Yuki's. He pushed the thought aside as they came up on the gates of the new school

He looked up and to the side as they passed the gates, a laughed comment made him swing his head around to locate the source.

"Holy mother of..." he muttered as he recognized the swinging black braids and the short cut brown hair.

"Kyo!" Li blinked, he knew he'd never seen that shade of orange on anything but the other boys head before.

Sakura swung around as Li's mouth dropped open in shock. "Kyo!" she laughed, skipping over to the boy. "Wow! You've gotten way tall!"

"You haven't changed a bit!" he laughed, looking down at the diminutive mage.

"That's not funny Kyo!" she shoved his shoulder and cocked her head to study the girl he stood holding hands with.

"Who's this?" Yuki asked, his voice bored, his manner cold. But his heart had almost stopped as the girl had run up, almost afraid she'd hug Kyo and release disastrous results.

"Oh!" Kyo looked down at his hand, as if shocked to find it connected to another's. "This is Tohru Honda. Tohru, meet Sakura Kinomoto, Syaoran Li, and Tomoyo Daidouji." Pointedly he ignored his cousin as Tohru bowed her head, the others following formally.

"Kyo, manners still appalling as ever, who's this? Yuki?" Yuki's brows arched as the tall boy smirked. Kyo talked about him?

"Yeah, he's that damn rat." Yuki almost swallowed his tongue at Kyo's admission.

"Kyo..." he hissed.

"Oh shove off ya wuss." He smiled down at Sakura and Tomoyo and chuckled. "Never told anyone else about our switcheroo, he doesn't know about you guys."

"Well, really Kyo, you've got to admit he's got a reason for being so worried. He probably thinks you've blabbed your family secret to every corner of the universe." Sakura looked over to where Li stood, flanking Yuki as if to keep the other boy from fleeing. "Don't worry, we had a little mix up a few years ago, ever since then we've known your curse, but don't worry, we haven't told anybody." She walked up to Yuki, stopping just before contact, and was a bit amused as he flinched away before regaining his nerve. "Just like Kyo hasn't told anyone about our secrets."

"Your..." Yuki began as the class bell rang.

"We're in class 3-A." Tomoyo giggled, "How about you?"

"The same!" Kyo laughed and tugged Tohru along, Yuki bringing up the rear as the braided menace gripped Kyo's other hand.

"Lets go then!" She grabbed Sakuras hand, who held Li's, and the group walked off toward the school.


	2. reassurance

I'm sorry I haven't updated this in a while, and I apologize for such a short chapter, but I really wanted to let you guys know that I am in development and I've actually gotten the first part finished. My computer is acting like a whiny brat right now and the fact that I've forgotten I haven't the posted the second section to the first part, is the reason why I've decided to post a middle section. I'm also not in the vicinity of the saved chapter, so you get this instead, and a whopping bit of guilt… absolutely free!

* * *

Check in during the next few days, and this will be updated again… promise!

* * *

Control was not something Yuki liked to lack. Whether it be of a situation, or of himself, control was a key word in his vocabulary. His hand tensed under Tohru's as Kyo lead them off into the crowd, seemingly unconcerned with maybe brushing against girls that peppered the crowd. He jumped aside as one came too close for comfort.

"Kyo!" He growled, Tohru tugged him along.

"Yuki-kun?"

"Just please tell him to be more careful."

"Kyo-kun?"

"I told you…"

"Sorry Kyo, um… Yuki-kun was wondering…"

"We'll be in the classroom soon enough, tell the rat to calm down."

The girl at the head of the group, long braids flapping as she detatched and skipped over, started walking next to Yuki.

"Konichiwa!" she smiled, her head tilted as she grinned.

"Hello, um, Daidouji-san?"

"Call me Tomoyo, please, Sohma-san." She almost mad him jump as she grabbed his free hand and tugged him up to lead the group, her other hand reaching for and finding Sakuras.

"Please, call me Yuki." He returned, chancing a small smile.

"Now, we don't have any time right now to explain the intricate details of our intertwining lives, all you have to know at the moment is that we promise to keep your secret." She squeezed his hand before releasing to open the door to the school. Yuki held it open as she entered, and passed the door to Syaoran so he could hold it open for Sakura.

"Are you going to explain or will I have to beat it out of Kyo later?" he smirked as Tomoyo giggled, "Not that beating Kyo up is a rare occurrence."

"We'll figure it all out later Yuki-kun." She winked as they stood outside their classroom door, "for now we face something infinitely scarier than magic and curses."

"And what would that be?"

"High school."


	3. a new teacher and present in one!

As promised, i'm back on my computer and uploading the chapter i finished a while back... umm, i'm going to edit the next chapter, and if my computer doesn't crap out on me you'll get the rare but not unheard of occurance of 2 chapters in a row!!!

Cardcaptors and Fruits Basket do not belong to me, and so far no characters introduced have been original. but enjoy anyway....

* * *

Yuki sat beside Li, who had taken the back corner near the windows. The strangers had arranged themselves automatically so that the girl with the braids sat next to the shorter girl, who sat in front of Li. By the time the class had set themselves up, the seat next to the boy and the one next to it where the only ones left. Kyo and Tohru settled themselves in front of the two girls, and though Tohru did glance back to him with a worried expression she didn't switch her seat next to him. Yuki sighed as the boy looked over at him.

"Don't worry Yuki." Li didn't smile, but the reassurance in his eyes was clear. "We don't gab on our friends."

"Who said I was your friend?" he wasn't trying to be rude, but Li knew that and chanced a rare grin.

"Even if you don't want to be friends with us, we're friends with Kyo, and we won't chance it. So…" Li looked up at Kyo and Tohru, "Whose the girl?"

"Tohru? She lives with us and our cousin Shigure." Yuki looked up and watched her as she laughed at something Sakura said. Two girls had taken the seats in front of Kyo and Tohru, and seemed to be close to the conversation as they giggled too.

Li looked over at the girls as he noticed the flatness of the gray boys glance. He knew that flatness, it was a shield he wore before he admitted his feelings for Sakura. Poor boy, he also knew that it wasn't going to be easy, for the girls gaze rested on Kyo like she already knew.

What she knew was something only a girl could explain, and something every guy with eyes could recognize. Apparently Kyo was going around blind.

"Who're those two?" Li asked, trying to take Yuki's mind of his brooding.

"The blond with the long skirt is Arisa Uotani, she used to be a thug." Li frowned slightly and smirked, " And the creepy girl sitting next to her is Saki Hanajima, She's a psychic."

"A psychic? And she hasn't figured out your secret yet?" Li took a breath and concentrated. The girl had a deep purple aura, yet the color was secondary to the electric impulses that scattered through and around it happily. Abruptly he cut his sight as the girl shifted to stare at him. It was very like the look his mother gave him when he was being irritating. He gulped and melted into his chair. She nodded to him, then turned her attention back to Tohru as she waved her hands and laughed at something Uo had said.

"Your right."

"Huh?"

"She's creepy."

"Welcome class!" a bright cheery voice cut through the chatter and made Li sit up straight as his hand tapped Sakuras shoulder. Sakura grinned brightly as the teacher set his briefcase down. "This is your senior year, and I hope that with this new school and the eagerness I can feel from… most… of your minds," he locked eyes with Li, who smirked into the mans blue gaze. "That this year will be the best year we can possibly make it." He picked up a piece of chalk from the blackboard and wrote his name in precise English followed by kanji. Eriol Hiiragizawa. When Tomoyo began to giggle the teacher set down the chalk and smiled broadly. "Miss Tomoyo? Is something funny?" he unclasped his briefcase and took out a large stack of papers.

"Sorry Mr. Hiiragizawa, Sensei." She took a few deep breaths to gain control of herself and folded her hands neatly on the desk before her.

"Ok then, let me pass out these, and we'll get started with todays lesson."

* * *

"Oh. My. God!" Sakura chattered as the class began to pack up for the day. Yuki moved up to rejoin Tohru and Kyo, and Sakura almost bumped into him as he passed. "Oh!" she jerked back sharply, and looked up into his panicked eyes before she bowed and apologized.

"That's ok." Yuki nudged her shoulders back so that she could look at him. "Just… Um, be careful, please." He bowed slightly and, telling Tohru that he would walk her to her job, left the room.

"Kyo, are you ok?" Tohru asked as she gathered her things.

"Yeah, I'll pick you up, I think Yuki's going to be busy tonight."

"Ok, it was nice meeting you all." Tohru bowed, Sakura bowed back, and the girl left to meet Yuki in the hall.

"She's nice Kyo." Tomoyo grinned and patted the boys hand, "I can tell you like her, its nice to know you have good taste." Kyo looked over at the braided menace and sputtered,

"Bu- its… you…" he sighed heavily, and gave up, "You still scare me." he admitted.

"Kyo, it is kinda obvious." Sakura agreed, then smiled as the teacher came to join their circle. "So, Eriol… I mean, Hiiragizawa dono…" she bowed as the teacher smirked.

"Well, I can see that you're all still getting along." Eriol patted Sakura's head kindly, "its good knowing you took my advice to heart." He bowed to Li who bowed solemnly back.

"Ancestor." Li smiled gently.

"Ancestor?" Kyo looked up at the man, who's unlined face was chuckling at the puzzlement on his face.

"Ah, young Sohma, I didn't expect this." He grinned at Sakura who chuckled, "I guess that proves my foresight abilities aren't as sharp as they used to be."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kyo bristled.

"Oh, don't worry young cat. You met me before but I couldn't allow you to remember and mess up the schedule I'd laid." Eriol laughed and patted Kyos head as his face turned red.

"Kyo, don't worry, Eriol is like us. Actually, he's the reincarnation of Li's ancestor, Clow, the man who invented the cards I use."

"Oh, well that explains everything." Kyo drawled sarcastically.

"Its all right Kyo." Li smirked, "He probably knows more about your family than you do. Eriols got his fingers in every pie available to them." He looked up at the man and shook his head, "How'd you grow so fast?"

"I held myself back so I could help Sakura through the change. Once I split with her father I really didn't have enough power at my disposal to stay, and I really didn't have the desire to stay that way forever either." He ruffled Kyo's hair, his hand still on the boys head, and laughed, "Besides I have a girlfriend who was just a bit disconcerted to be dating a fifth-grader!"

"Miss Mizuki!" Sakura giggled.

"Sakura, you do have the most amazing ability to fish out the truth." He took his hand from Kyo's head and tapped Sakuras nose.

"The last letter she sent told me she was going to visit relatives to tell them she met a great guy and to expect a present from her to arrive shortly." She laughed, "She didn't tell me my present was going to be a tall foreigner!"

"Ah, but I'm only half the present." Eriol pulled a box from his briefcase and handed it to the girl. "She told me that she would like you to have it, and that you'll figure out why soon enough." Sakura glanced at Li, who nodded, having sensed the pulse of magic within.

"Can I open it?" She asked carefully. Eriol laid a finger on the gold foil of the wrapping paper and muttered quietly. Kyo jumped as a sharp light flashed brightly where his finger laid, and had to concentrate on his breathing to quiet his heartbeat.

"It's safe enough; but requires a bit of watching." Eriol lifted his finger and stepped back while Sakura carefully pulled back the wrapping paper. She handed the foil to Li, who folded it and put it in his back pocket while Sakura pulled the top off the box. It seemed a sigh went through the group as the tiny charm was revealed.

A tiny, but brilliant sapphire rested on a cloud of cotton, set in a small silver disc and connected to a long pink ribbon. Around the gem, on the silver where etched meaningless symbols to Kyo's eyes, but obviously they meant something to his friends.

"Those are the symbols that surround me when I'm doing my magic!" Sakura smiled, warmth spreading over her chest as she recognized the five elements.

"Metal, Earth, Water, Air, Fire." Li agreed with a solemn nod. "They keep the amulet free from corruption."

"Protecting it?" Sakura asked Li, then looking over to Eriol she frowned gently. "From what?"

"From curses." Kyo blurted out, then realized he'd been easing away from the group since the second Eriol removed his hand from the package. "It scares the cat." His shoulders shook as Sakura reached to pat his arm soothingly. He snatched it back as she made contact. "Its really afraid." He looked away and closed his eyes, trying to calm the clawing panic inside.

"I'll put it away, Kyo, its all right." She placed the cover over the box and put it away in her pocket. Suddenly it was like the little charm didn't exist. "My cards will protect it, and you." This time when she placed her hand on his arm to sooth, it worked. The cat calmed, and settled down in the pit of his stomach, where he could always feel it sleeping. He took a few deep breaths and smiled shakily.

"Well, an eventful first day at school, huh?" he chuckled in relief and laid his head on her shoulder as she giggled softly.

"Yes, well, hmm." Sakura caught the relief in Li's eyes as the cat had calmed, having been trapped inside the cats panic could not have been fun for Kyo, and Li knew how hard the cat grabbed onto what it considered his.

"So, how do you think Yuki's going to react to us knowing?" Tomoyo laid a soothing hand on Kyo's shoulder.

"He's probably going to bite my head off when I get home." Kyo shrugged, "not like we don't fight all the time anyway, at least this one will have more substance to it than "stupid cat"."

"Why don't we explain it all to him?" Sakura flung her bookbag over her shoulder and smiled as she tugged the others toward the door.

"I dunno, if Shigure is home he'll insist that we have to tell Akito." Li shivered and shook his head.

"I think we should try to keep this between us. We should tell Yuki about our switch, but other than that? I'd feel more secure knowing that the head of your family is oblivious to us."

"Why don't you take Syaoran?" Sakura asked, "Yuki might be more comfortable with just a guy explaining things."

"That works." Kyo nodded, "come on," he nodded to Li, "this should be interesting."

* * *

So far Yuki has had three different people reasure him as to their secret keeping abilitys... personally i think thats a lucky number... and yes, it will come up...

"catcha on the flip side." (if you can tell me who said that in which movie (that is coming out soon with a sequel) you get an extra point!


	4. a dream and a visit

oh no! the dreaded two-chapters-in-one-night! how could i? you ask? well, i'm notsure how much longer my computerwill last, so i'm doing as much updating as i possibly can.... enjoy the overflow, i might not be doing this for a while!

cc & fb do not belong to moi

* * *

Yuki was kneeling at the table, his homework spread out on the top, before he realized that for the first time in his life he could care less about his studies.

"What the hell is Kyo thinking?" he asked himself, and set his forehead on the table with a thud.

"About what?" Kyo poked his head around the corner with an irritating smile, knowing exactly what put that pained expression on his cousins face.

"Telling those people!" Yuki hissed, then looked around for signs of Shigure.

"He's at the main house." Kyo commented, and sat opposite Yuki, "listen, do you want to hear this from me? Or do you want to talk to someone who knows what he's talking about?"

"What ARE you talking about?"

"Here, we'll make it easy for you Yuki-san." Li leaned against the door jamb and bowed his head politely, "it should cut down on the confusion."

"All right then." Yuki watched as Li looked at Kyo, a nod passed between them, Kyo stood and left the room.

"If he stayed you'd only end up fighting." Li answered the question written plainly on Yuki's face. "Now, do you want the whole story, or the condensed version?"

"So what you're telling me is that you and Kyo switched bodys for a day?"

"Yes."

"And that this CHANGE card of Sakura's was responsible for it?"

"Sounds right."

"And that you're a wizard?"

"I come from a long line of them." Li nodded.

"Pull the other one."

"Excuse me?"

"You're insane."

"You turn into a mouse when a girl hugs you and you're having trouble believing this?" Li chuckled, "You're a case."

"I may be cursed but that doesn't mean I'm gullible."

"You know what? I really want to hit you right now. But I'll restrain myself and let you in on a little secret."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Wizards are notorious for short tempers. Luckily for you I'm controlled to the extreme." Li held out his left hand, palm up, and whispered the incantation, "Force, know my plight, release the light." Yuki jumped back as the hand began to glow and a small circle of energy was etched into the table under it.

"What the-?" he scrambled back until his spine touched the wall.

"Fire, know thy master, flame within, bound to its caster." A tiny flame danced over the palm, not touching, but happily burning just the same. "Now do you believe me?"

Yuki could only nod dumbly as Li extinguished the flame with a thought, and shook the remaining influence from his fingertips, letting the energy sink back into his skin with a sigh.

"And that was so small a thing compared to what we can and will do." He paused as the front door opened, and they could hear Kyo's voice welcoming Shigure home. "Now are you going to be reasonable and keep this between us for the time being?" Yuki could only nod as Shigure opened the sliding door and stepped into the room. Seeing Yuki's homework spread out and another boy at the table Shigure naturally assumed a study group.

"Ahh, friends at the new school already, how fun." He smiled at Li, who nodded politely back. "How absolutely magnificent! Kyo!" he sung out, "why aren't you in here making friends?"

"Actually, Shigure, Li is my friend, I've known the guy for a while." Kyo smiled smugly as Yuki was still trying to find his voice.

"Oh, well good for you." Shigure patted Kyo's head and moved away, back into his office as Kyo began to yell about how his cousin always treated him like a baby.

"Anyway, it was nice talking with you." Li nodded to Yuki before getting to his feet, "and I hope we can be friends." Li grabbed Kyo's elbow, "you can show me out Kyo."

"Right." Kyo sighed and slid back the hall door.

"I think he'll be able to talk in a bit," Li shrugged into his light jacket, "and try to remember how you felt the first time you were hit by magic, and maybe not rag on him until he's up to it?"

"Fat chance." Kyo snorted. Li rolled his eyes, at least he tried.

"We'll see you at school tomorrow." Li waved his hand before settling it in his jacket pocket.

"Yeah." Kyo grinned, "Tomorrow."

Yuki was still a little shell-shocked as he prepared for bed. Luckily Shigure just thought he was in a mood, and Tohru was preoccupied with completing all her homework after Kyo walked her home. And Kyo just watched him, with a smug smile on his face.

"I can't believe this is happening." He shook his head as he pulled his shirt off. He glanced toward the mirror and sighed. "I don't know why I think the image will ever change." He chided himself, and fingered the scars that crept up his left side, before turning away. And once again he marveled at the fact that the long thin lines caused by a cherry blossom branch had scarred over, but the great gaps he'd made in his wrists had healed without a trace. "Hatori." He muttered before pulling on his pajama pants and sliding into his bed. As he turned out the light and settled himself in, he prayed that he could sleep just one night, without the dreams.

_'I guess tonight's not the night.' The young boy was huddled in the corner of the dim room, the only light came from a window across from him. He shivered in the cold, and prayed that the punishment would soon be over._

"_Just like a rat, to hide in a corner." The voice was full of conceit, arrogance that only the young or very powerful could feel. This boy, standing in the doorway with an ugly sneer, was both. "I told you this would happen, if you disobeyed me again." He stepped into the room and closed the door with a swish. The other boy, his gray eyes wide as he watched the shadow moved across the room, tried to curl into himself. He tried to wish himself away, but he couldn't move for the fear of it._

"_I told you not to talk to them, but you did it anyway, Yuki." He placed his hand gently on the boys hair and stroked down, pleased to see the fear as a tear escaped. "Why do you make me punish you?"_

"NO!" Yuki woke with a shout, and as in the dream, wrapped his arms around his knees and shivered in the pale morning light. His body was drenched with sweat, his blanket kicked off during the night, and his eyes he shut to keep the room from spinning. He ordered his breath to steady, his hands to unclamp, and his shoulders to stop shaking. Slowly his body obeyed, and he could sit on the side of his bed with a steady heartbeat.

He calmly went to his dresser and started to pull out his clothes for the day. He only had to pause once, to remind himself that he was not that child anymore, that he would get ready for the day, and that no stupid dream was going to dictate his life. He got a towel from the stack in the corner and made his way to the bathroom, beating Kyo there by a scant minute.

"Oi!" Kyo complained as he beat his fist against the wooden frame. "Rat-boy! I need to shower before school!"

"You can use it when I'm done." Yuki snapped.

"Shit!" Kyo thumped against the frame again before turning back. "I guess I can train a bit more." He jogged back downstairs and into the courtyard.

"Kyo? I thought you were done?" Tohru was at the kitchen window, setting out strawberry tarts to cool.

"Yuki got to the shower before me." Kyo complained, "Stupid Rat-boy is being all grouchy." He punched the air a few times before leaping up to kick an imaginary opponent in the face. All his imaginary opponents looked like Yuki.

"He was quiet last night. Do you think he's not happy with the new school?" Tohru worried, "Or maybe I did something…"

"You didn't do anything Tohru, Yuki's pissed because of something I told him. So don't worry your head any."

"Oh Kyo, can't you two be nice to each other for two seconds?" Tohru asked quietly.

"If we were you'd probably freak and think we had head colds or something." Kyo scoffed, making Tohru laugh. He stopped his kata for a moment just to listen. Tohru smiled a lot, but the sound of her laugh was still something he found to be rare.

"Oh! Yuki-kun, hi." Tohru smiled as he walked into the kitchen to pour himself some orange juice.

"Showers free!" Kyo jumped, and ran up the stairs.

"Stupid cat, like he has to rush after I'm done with it." Yuki muttered after taking a sip. "Good morning Tohru, did you get all your homework done?"

"Yes, I think I did all right." Tohru offered Yuki a tart, "Would you mind…"

"I'll check it over before we leave."

"Thanks Yuki-kun," she smiled gently, Yuki found himself smiling back.

"Its not a problem." He looked over as a knock sounded on the door.

Tohru went to the door and slid it open, "Oh! Tomoyo-san!" the smile left Yuki's face as the girl stepped into the hallway.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this, but I was walking this morning and I realized this was the house Li told me you all lived in. I couldn't resist thinking you might all want to walk to school with me." she smiled broadly as Tohru nodded her head, "Besides, I love filming people in their natural meilu!" Tomoyo whipped a camera out from behind her back and focused on Tohru as she blushed. "Oh you are soooo cute!"

"Oi!" Kyo jumped down the stairs and laughed at the wide confusion on Yuki's face. "Tomoyo, is that thing glued to your hand?"

"Every moment of ones life should be documented." Tomoyo returned seriously, but that evil glint was still in her eye, "but on the other side, Tohru really is cute! I can't wait to make her a dress!" Tohru's eyes grew as big as dinner plates.

"You should meet Yuki's brother…"

"NO!" Yuki shouted, "No one should EVER meet my brother. I'm going to get my things, and we can leave for school immediately, and Kyo…" he paused half way up the stairs, "if you mention that again, I'll send you flying to the moon."

The silence was palatable until Tomoyo heard Yuki's door close.

"So what does his brother do?" she whispered.

"He makes dresses for stewardesses and maids and nurses!" Tohru proclaimed proudly. Tomoyo blinked, then shifted her attention to Kyo.

"Seriously?" Kyo was having a hard time keeping a straight face. That was what decided her. "I think I should meet this man… he seems like the type I'd be most comfortable with." That was what did it. Tohru just blinked as Kyo burst out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"I'll arrange it then." Tomoyo felt very proud of herself. Not only did she capture Tohru's cuteness on her screen, but she got an upset Yuki and a laughing Kyo.

Her morning was complete.

* * *

YESSSSS!! and i know you were all thinking about that awesome link of character interests... trust me, Tomoyo's trip to Ayame's sop will be nonstop hilarity!


	5. kissing in the rain

Here you guys, i've been having fun with several versions of this story. i'm still not exactly sure how its going to end up, but it will be interesting. right now i'm using the schools computer, i just happened to have a couple of free hours, so congrats, you reap benefits! thanks for reading and reviewing (hint, hint)

* * *

fruits basket and cardcaptors are not belonging to me.

* * *

Sakura felt like beating her head against the desk.

"I can't find anything on this stupid charm!" She complained to Kero and let her head fall to the thick tome she had found in her fathers library. "You don't know anything about it, do you Kero?" she asked him for the tenth time and stroked the glowing blue orb gently. It was smooth and a little warm, like her cd player after extended use.

"Naw kiddo. Sorry. Clow didn't have much use for curses, so he didn't need anything to contain them. It does feel Chinese though, so Yui might know something I don't. He was always reading the old books that I fell asleep two pages into."

"So I really can't do anything until Yuki comes over?" Sakura leaned back in her chair and sighed, "I asked Toya to bring him home before school today."

"You'd just frustrate yourself trying to find something that isn't there kid. Why don't you do something else for a little bit?" he crossed his stubby arms as he floated in front of her, his little plush body levitated up and down as he considered with a heavy sigh. "I supposed you could make pudding, if you really wanted to."

"You think Yuki might want some pudding when he comes over?" Sakura laughed, "Kero, you're so thoughtful!" Sakura chuckled.

"Yes, I know he's fond of chocolate."

"And if there's some left over, I'm sure there's a Clow guardian around here who wouldn't mind finishing it off."

"Oh," he sighed again, "the myriad of things I do for my master." He nodded wisely, his paw against his chin.

"Of course." She got to her feet and slammed the book shut with satisfaction. She finger combed her hair back from her face and went toward the door. "You know, maybe I could layer the pudding with mousse…"

"MOUSSE!" Kero abandoned dignity and raced for the open door, then shot back to dance in the air around her head as she laughed out loud and started down the hall.

* * *

Yuki and Toya stood on the front stoop, hand in hand, and watched the rain fall. Toya's dark hair dripped with wet, he had forgotten his hat at home when Sakura asked him to fetch the gray eyed youth, and refused to take Yuki's when it was offered. Now Yuki took off the cap and shook his gray hair free from the confinement. He looked over at Toya and grinned, it was a simple moment, made a little funny from the sounds coming from inside the house. Yuki smothered a chuckle as the sound of several pots falling, clanking to the ground was followed by Sakuras stunned, "Wheee?" 

Then he snorted when Kero protested his innocence, "Its not my fault!"

"Monsters making a mess." Toya grumbled, even though he was having trouble keeping a straight face.

"Ahh, leave her alone." Yuki drew his hand away from Toyas. Ashis hand dropped Yuki slipped his cold fingers under Toya's shirt, tracing delicately along his spine. Toya shuddered but shifted closer.

"You offering incentive?" He smirked, one eyebrow lifted over a perfectly emerald eye.

"A distraction, maybe." Yuki muttered and swiveled around to plaster his body to Toya's, his lips near his boyfriends ear, warm breath and cold fingers. Toya chuckled deeply, his own hands reached to thread Yuki's hair through his fingers.

"I think, maybe, I'll let you." He shifted and nudged Yuki's chin up to mate their lips together.

The rain fell, several pots clanged to the floor, and the two lovers on the front porch where fused together, unaware of it all.

* * *

"You were kissing in the rain again." Sakura threw a dish towel at her brother and continued whipping the instant pudding. Toya wiped his hands and dryed his hair, then tossed it to Yuki, who was grinning as Kero flew around his head chattering about his pudding. Yuki dried his hair, the tossed the towel onto the flying plush toy. Kero sputtered for a second then pushed the towel off his head. 

"Sure squirt, its one of the best things to do in the rain." Toya ruffled Sakura's hair, then dipped a finger into the pudding mix.

"Toya!" she protested, turning her back to him, getting the rest of the pudding out of his reach. "Yuki, I need to ask Yui something… if you don't mind?" Sakura poured the pudding into several small glass bowls and smiled gently. Toya decided to change tactics, and wrapped his arms around her as she set the bowls in the fridge.

"COLD!" she protested as his wet shirt pressed against her dry back, but didn't wriggle away.

"Sure, you guys can chat while the pudding sets." Yuki winked.

"Clever." Kero mused, "When you get back it won't seem as if you've waited at all for that pudding." He floated to sit on the counter, eyeing the fridge envy.

"I'm just that smart." Yuki agreed, "excuse me."

He shut his eyes and took a breath as the giant wings shot from his shoulder blades and encased his entire body in a cocoon. It glowed bright for a moment or two, then the wings shot out leaving a tall man with long white hair and piercing blue eyes in the same spot Yuki had just occupied. He vanished the wings with a negligent wave of his hand and crossed his long arms loosely over his chest.

"Sakura," Yui nodded, "You need advice master?"

"Yeah." She smiled brightly. "always so serious Yui, come on upstairs, I'll show you what I need help with."


	6. threats and clubs

Yes, it was pointed out to me that i have been spelling Yueh as Yui, and that is incorrect. also to point out the obvious i have two characters that look remarkably similar (which is what started the crossover idea in the first place) with the same name. Yuki. well, the older Yuki is acctually Yukito, even if Toya and Sakura shorten it most of the time with "Yuki" in future chapters he will be refered to as Yukito, just to avoid confusion. Does that help? i'll fix the previous chapters later, but for now just ignore it. thanks for the tip.

* * *

"So Yueh wasn't much of a help, was he?" Li slid into his desk with a sigh over Sakura's troubled expression.

"He said it reminded him of something in one of Clow's books, but he wasn't sure if it was the same thing." Sakura let her head droop to the desk. "I would ask Eriol, but I know he'd just smile and say something like-"

"Its not one of the memories I possess."

"WHEEE!" She jumped as Eriol smiled at Li, who was not above scaring Sakura a little to hear that adorable screech.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" he apologized and sat in the vacant seat in front of his pupil.

"Next time announce yourself with stampeding elephants if you don't mind." She grumbled, but smiled reluctantly and nodded understanding. "You would have told me if you knew. I get the feeling that I can use it for something really important, but I just don't know anything about it." She shrugged and looked back at Li, "I was going to ask if you had any of Clow's old books, maybe one of them can help."

"I do know that we have an extensive collection in the library that came from Clow's estates. I'll ask my mother to see if she can find anything helpful."

"And with that note, I believe the rest of your classmates are arriving." Eriol glanced over to the door where Tomoyo had entered, but blinked when she realized her hand was tugging Yuki's. Kyo and Tohru were behind them, Kyo with a smirk on his face, while Tohru looked almost as apprehensive as Yuki.

"Daidouji-chan…" Yuki was stuttering, trying to disengage his hand while not seeming rude.

"I told you, To-mo-yo. Yuki, I thought we went over this the other day."

"But, I…"

"No, buts… I don't like being called by my last name, so you and Tohru must call me Tomoyo. Do you understand me?"

"Tomoyo." Kyo steered Tohru to her desk and gently took Yuki's hand from her grip. "Yuki is a fuddy-duddy for propriety, Tohru's been living with us for 2 years now and he still calls her Honda-san."

"It's true." Tohru smiled, "Its just how he is."

Tomoyo puffed her cheeks in her, I-don't-care-how-everybody-else-does-it-I-am-going-to-get-my-way, face. She crossed her arms aver her chest and narrowed her eyes. Sakura grinned behind her hand, faking a cough to cover up the laugh that bubbled out. Li didn't bother hiding his amusement as the rest of the class began to stroll in and take their seats. They all looked over as Tomoyo let out a heavy breath and moved until she was right under Yuki's nose. She just stared at him, hardly breathing, until he could feel the sweat starting to form over his brow.

"Ummm…" Yuki coughed, "Tomoyo-chan… if you don't mind?"

Li couldn't stop himself, he turned away from the others and stared at the back corner of the room, and as Tomoyo smiled and backed up his laughter echoed around the room.

"See, its not that hard, is it?"

* * *

"It was hilarious." Kyo managed to speak to Uo and Hana when they came in and demanded to know why Li was laughing so hard and Yuki was sitting with a stiff back and red blushes on his cheeks. Uo did the expected and turned to smirk at Yuki, who still continued to call her Uosani-san, as the boy flinched she started to feel sorry for him though, and adjusted to smile at the girl sitting in front of him.

"Good one girl." She complimented.

"Thank you." Tomoyo nodded, accepting the praise, but her attention went to the front of the room as Eriol stood from his desk.

"If my students can get themselves under control?" he looked pointedly at Li, who was still trying to catch his breath.

"Of course." He coughed and placed his hands on his desk, calling on years of training to steady his mirth.

"I am supposed to make an announcement." He took out his glasses, making the entire front row of girls sigh, tucked them on his nose and shook a piece of paper. "The school would like to start a number of clubs. If any of you have suggestions other than the ones already posted in the front hall of the school, you are welcome to submit them to the principal's office after school hours. Extra-curricular activity's are good for college applications and also help you grow as a person." He cleared his throat and looked up from the paper, "I am supposed to suggest that joining a group which has similar interests is a good way to meet more people and make friends, of course you are not required to join one. Sign ups will start after school today. At least go over and look, you never know what kinds of things people will turn into clubs." He looked over at the group in the back right corner and grinned slightly, once again causing the front row of girls to sigh. He slipped off his glasses and turned to the chalkboard. "Now turn to page 31 of your history text and we will begin."

* * *

Ok, yes i know that in the earlier chapter Yuki and Tomoyo agreed to call eachother by their first names, but Yuki is very proper when it comes to that kind of thing, and even if he really expected Tomoyo to call him Yuki, i don't think he really got it into his head to call her Tomoyo, i mean seriously, he still calls Tohru Honda-san, as pointed out by Kyo. so i thought it would be funny to make him be informal, and Tomoyo was the only one i thought could pull it off...

that girl is scary...


	7. match!

FB and CC are not mine

* * *

"I think Honda-san wants to join the cooking club." Yuki looked back to where Tomoyo and Tohru were chatting. Kyo looked over to his cousin and nodded.

"Yeah, she was talking about that earlier. I think Sakura mentioned something about it too."

"I noticed a sign for a karate club." Yuki was looking straight ahead, but Kyo huffed.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it." He stopped, "How come you're not picking a fight with me?"

"I'm tired Kyo, I don't feel like it." Yuki stopped as well and crossed his arms over his chest. "I've had my fill of yelling today."

"She told you." Kyo smiled.

"Wipe that grin off your face."

"You gonna make me?"

"Maybe…"

"Guys." Tomoyo stepped between the cousins, making them both back off a space to avoid touching.

"Wow, nice move." Tohru laughed. "It took me a while to figure that one out." She and Tomoyo continued walking together, laughing as the boys turned to watch them.

"How do they do that?"

"I dunno."

"You feel like fighting?"

"Not at the moment."

"Good, I don't feel like getting kicked in the head."

* * *

"Why are you going to the brats place?"

"Why? Because we can talk there without you interrupting us every three seconds, that's why." Sakura slid the Clow book into her bag and strapped on her rollerblades, "We're just going to talk magic then maybe eat some food. I'll be home before eleven, since you have to work and dads on a dig its just nicer to be with my boyfriend than alone in the house! I know you don't like him, but don't you think its time for you to get used to the fact that he's in my life to stay?" She looked up into her brothers eyes and frowned a little. "It makes me sad that you don't like each other."

"Just go." Toya sighed, messed up her hair a little and pulled her up into a hug.

"Ok. Have a good night at work."

"Sakura." He paused as she skated down the walkway.

"Yeah?"

"I'll work on tolerating him." Toya sighed, "Have fun." When she smiled he shrugged, "Go."

"Love you." Sakura waved and bent her head against the wind.

"Love you…" he shook his head, and when she was out of his sight he admitted to himself, if noone else, "and so does the brat."

* * *

They were sitting on his living room floor, bowls of pasta forgotten as they bent their heads over the gigantic tomes Li's mother had sent from Hong-Kong.

"She didn't recognize it when I told her about the pendant, but she sent over everything on curses that we have."

"That was really nice of her."

"Well, she really likes you." Li looked up and smiled at her soft,

"Pwee?"

"When you went to Hong Kong she told me that she felt you had a large heart and an open mind." Sakura blinked, but felt her shoulders raise a little with pride and happiness.

"She's beautiful. I really liked her, Syaoran."

He slammed a book cover down, "Nothing in this one." He muttered and took another from the pile.

"LI!" Sakura looked up from her book and took out the amulet to compare it against the page. "Its not exact…" Li got up to lean against her back, looking down at the same page. His breath tickled her ear.

As he breathed in her hair his eyes followed her finger. It was a square pendant instead of round, green jewel instead of shimmering pool of blue, but the symbols seemed the same.

"It says its an amulet to keep curses for distribution." His finger joined hers on the page, following the text. "Once used by dark magics to harness powers until they were ready to be used."

"Yes, but I don't think this is the same thing."

"Maybe its not to carry curses and pass them out…" Li looked down, "it looks like the symbols in the picture are inverted."

"Maybe… Syaoran…"

"Maybe its used to keep curses."

"Like store them?"

"Like capture them, and keep them from being used…"

"Syaoran, do you think?"

"Why else would it come here, to you, at this exact moment in time?" Li pulled Sakura to her feet.

"Nothing in magic is coincidental, you taught me that Syaoran."

"You are a beautiful person. My mother was right." Li leaned down to kiss her gently.

"Mothers are always right." She accepted his lips and leaned into his arms. When she was with him, nothing was wrong, and everything could be fixed.

"Hmmm…"

"What?" she opened her eyes as he leaned back slightly.

"Stay with me." He kissed her, "Don't go home." He kissed her again, nibbling on the corner of her mouth. He felt it when she smiled.

"Toya gets off work at eleven."

"Damn it." He brought his lips fully onto hers and clamped his arms around her waist, molding her to his body.

"Next weekend he's helping the debate team for the big city meet." Her arms wound around behind his neck and brought his head to cradle at her neck. He nibbled at her soft skin and groaned as she laughed. "Have dinner with me then." She unwound herself from his arms and picked up the book. "Do you mind?"

"Naw." Li flopped down onto the couch.

"Love you." She bent down to kiss him. A few minutes later he released her lips.

"Love you too."

* * *


	8. intimidation at its subtlest

Next up! I am having fun jerking Yuki around like a yo-yo! I'm sorry if i sound a bit maniacal about it, but Yuki has some hard knocks coming up and i really need him to be at that point where the whole world is against you... you know... depression mega-star coming up... he's a tragic hero, what can i say? But this story is based in humor, so look for it, cause it's there. enjoy

* * *

"I got a letter from Meilin this morning." Sakura shared with everyone as they sat at their desks.

"Yeah? What's up?" Kyo slid into his chair and turned to snatch the letter from Sakuras hand.

"She's coming for a visit." She smiled and let him read.

"What's this? She can't wait to see me again?" he looked over and raised his eyebrows.

"She liked you Kyo." Li nodded.

"She was always scowling at me."

"That's because she wasn't sure how to treat you. It was kind of confusing Kyo."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Who is Meilin?" Yuki asked as he set his notebook on top of his desk and pulled out a pencil.

"She is Li's fiancé…"

"Ex-fiancé." Li corrected Tomoyo.

"She came to school here for a while to help Li capture cards, but she went back when the fuss was over. When is she coming in?" she asked Li.

"Tomorrow."

"Oh! Fun!" Tomoyo clapped her hands. "Then the next day we can all get together and visit Yuki's brothers shop!"

Yuki froze in the act of hanging his book bag from the back of his chair.

"Umm…" he turned around and with wide eyes shook his head. "I don't think…"

"That would be fun! Last time I was there Ayame was so happy! I'm sure he would love to meet you all!" Tohru gushed along with Tomoyo. The girls linked hands and giggled. Sakura, on the sidelines of the conversation, noticed Yuki's panic.

"Don't worry Yuki, I'll keep an eye on them." Sakura could be flighty some of the time, but in the years since she'd finally gained mastery over her cards, the tensions and auras around her became more noticeable. Yuki was bright with fear. "It can't be that bad, its just a dress shop."

"Its my brother." Yuki hissed.

"He's not a murder or anything?" Li asked, like Sakura he couldn't help but feel Yuki's complete shut down of rational thought.

"No, he'd never hurt anyone…" Yuki trailed off.

"He's just afraid that everyone will come back looking like maids…" Kyo drawled with a smirk. "Not that I trust that Ayame with anything myself."

"Maids?" Li blinked.

"Kyo!" Li hissed.

But retribution was not in the cards. Eriol walked into the classroom, everyone sat down. Class began.

* * *

At lunch the group took their food to an old tree outside.

"I can't believe that no one else sits here." Uo looked up at the sheltering branches, "Its so peaceful out here."

Li looked over at the blond and nodded. "I think so too. We used to have a tree like this in our elementary school. No one ever intruded then either." Before he had gone to Tomoeda it was possible that every one had sat there at one time or another. But after he had shown up he decided to ward it, like he did to the one the group was currently under. Sakura had noticed the delicate lattice work involved and made sure that their friends were not affected. It was a nice blend of both their efforts. A cozy nest for those who would appritiate it.

"I feel strangely at home under this tree." Hana smiled gently, "as if it were protecting me." She leaned against the trunk and took a bit from her lunch.Though the others had noticed a tendency in the goth girl to scare off most people, Sakura, Tomoyo and Li all found the girl a stalwart warrior for Tohru, who hestitated to give offense in any situation.

"Yes, it is nice." Tohru agreed. Tomoyo looked over as Sakura, who leaned against Li. Both the magicians had secret smiles in their eyes. The lunch had been very quiet and peaceful, it was in the dark haired imp to be at peace in this kind of situation, but she felt a bit restless.

"Who is going to pick up Meilin at the airport?" Tomoyo asked, picking a piece of beef from her lunch as if it were more important than her question.

"Well, I have a club meeting." Li admitted, he'd found the concept of a magic club interesting. The flier had hinted at, ofall things, protection against outside forces. It had beenvery dry, not prone to exagerration that most "magic" clubs seemed to be, so he found himself signing up for in in spite of himself. "So Sakura said she'd go."

"She shouldn't go by herself. Sakura, Yuki and I will go with you." she took a sip from her juice box as Yuki blinked.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, Sakura and I are girls. And Meilin will have a lot of baggage. We'll need help. You don't mind helping girls, do you Yuki?" Her innocent tone made Yuki flush. Knowing full well he couldn't be rude and refuse. And Tomoyo knew, since she'd asked earlier, that he didn't have any plans for the weekend and was free to help…

"No." he mumbled.

"Good!" Sakura smiled, "this will be so much fun Yuki! Trust me! You'll like Meilin!" there was no way they couldn't. She thought, from what she'd seen they were so much alike it was almost scary. Well, if you didn't count Meilin's frequent frustration with the world. But maybe Yuki needed something like that.

"Stop playing matchmaker." Li muttered in her ear.

"I'm not." Sakura leaned back against his chest, her mouth close to his ear, "Tomoyo is doing a fine job without me."

The bell rang, lunch was over, but the plans set forth in Tomoyo's twisted mind were just beginning.


	9. one more evens out the cast

The first thing he noticed was how much taller the foreign girl was than Sakura. He'd barely caught a glimpse of her before Sakura had thrown open her arms and practically flown into the others arms. He had the impression of long, shiny black hair before the rest of his view was obstructed. Long white arms encircled the tiny Japanese girl, hugging tightly despite the fragile seeming bones. Then, abruptly, a large carry on was thrust into his hands, thumping almost painfully against his chest. The Chinese started walking, and he hadn't even seen her face yet.

"So, what is new?" Meilin linked her arms with Sakura's and walked briskly from the security check point toward baggage claim. Sakura stopped the forward march and swung the other girl around to face Yuki.

Her eyes were large and amber colored, Yuki blinked as her eyes bore into his own.

"You're a Sohma." she stated. Yuki opened his mouth as if to say something. Nothing came out.

"This is Yuki, Kyo's cousin."

"You'd be the rat then." Meilin nodded then held out her hand for her carry on. "Sorry, I thought you were one of Tomoyo's many helpers. You don't have to carry my things." Yuki felt his grip on the bag tighten.

"Actually, Tomoyo insisted I come to help out. So it seems you had the right impression after all." His spine went stiff as Meilin smirked.

"Fine, then, we can go get my bags from the claim, maybe we'll find out more interesting things about each other along the way. I already know you're a tight ass." Meilin said it in such sweet tones that Sakura didn't know that she and Yuki were fighting until Tomoyo told them to stop.

"Pwee?" Sakura touched Yuki's arm, trying to reassure, and noticed that his muscles were rock hard from the strain of keeping them at his side. She turned to Meilin, who was sneering at Yuki the way she used to sneer at Sakura. "Oh! Meilin, Yuki…. Please don't start off like this…." Sakura pleaded. Her worry pierced the others tempers and deflated them like a couple of balloons. Meilin recovered first and sent Sakura a brilliant grin.

"Sorry, I guess I'm a little out of sorts from the long plane ride." she admitted as she mounted the escalator toward the baggage claim. "Sohma-san, please forgive my rudeness." she bowed her head gently, which Yuki then mirrored.

"No, I apologize." he let his lips bend slightly, "I should not have been so easily affronted." He then followed Meilin onto the escalator and motioned for the other two to join them. His eyes grew large when he realized that the reason Tomoyo had been so silent during the whole episode was that her camcorder was recording every thing.

"This has been so educational Yuki!" Tomoyo chattered. She knew something interesting was going to happen, and come hell or high water, she'd get it all on tape!

* * *

He didn't realize he was staring at her until she blinked. Before she could comment he looked away and settled his eyes out the window of the limousine. Of course, that didn't work very well, he could still see her reflection as she shrugged and continued her conversation with Tomoyo. She was stunning. Long, thick, shiny black hair was left loose, traveling beyond her narrow waist and curving hips, like a waterfall of black ink.

"Yuki?"

"What?" Yuki startled as Tomoyo touched his arm. He let out a deep breath and smiled gently, "Sorry, just a bit jumpy. I wasn't paying attention, what was it?"

"I was just telling Meilin about tomorrow's outing. "

"What about it?" he scowled. It wasn't that he didn't like his brother, its just that he wouldn't trust that snake as far as he could throw him in human form.

"Just that he's part of the zodiac too, right? I got that impression as we were talking yesterday." Tomoyo settled back in her seat. "Which animal is he?"

"I'll give you a hint." Yuki chuckled, "He's long and slimy."

"What kind of a hint is that?" Tomoyo asked.

"Snake." Meilin smirked. "Though snakes aren't really slimy, they just look like they are because their scales are so shiny."

"I wasn't talking about texture, I was talking personality." Yuki crossed his arms over his stomach and sat back, enjoying the banter.

"So I should keep an eye on him."

"Only if you don't want to end up in an argument and suddenly wearing one of his many creations. I'm sure Tomoyo-chan will have a terrific time."

"My costumed days are long over, trust me." Meilin drawled, bored.

"Oh, but Meilin!" Tomoyo whined as Sakura chuckled.

"She's been working up to this for years Meilin, you can't cut her off at the knees now!"

"Of course I can Sakura. There is nothing Tomoyo can do to me that will make me wear one of her costumes." She shrugged, "Not that they're not nice Tomoyo, I just don't want a humongous bow on my ass."

Yuki lifted an eyebrow and took a breath as if to make a comment. Then he sat back and let the girls titter on. Tomoyo was starting to sound a bit like Ayame… and it was more than a little disconcerting…


	10. and wise words

He hunched. It was the first thing Meilin noticed. He was taller than she was, but he did not carry himself well at all. So as he helped her bring her bags to the door an idea formed to find out just how tall he was. She smiled, and "stumbled" a bit. He dropped her bags and shot out his hands to grasp her shoulders, even as he angled his body away.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Meilin patted his hands and looked up, "I'm so clumsy!" he was at least a head taller than she was. And Meilin knew she was tall for a girl.

Tomoyo smiled from behind her camera, and gave Meilin a silent applause.

"No problem." Yuki took the bags up to the door and set them down. On his way back down the path he stopped and looked down at Meilin. "Just be more careful in the future." He looked like he was about to say more when a mop of bark brown hair turned the corner into the walkway.

"Syaoran!" Meilin ran down the sidewalk and jumped into Li's waiting arms. He'd finally learned that wherever they were, Meilin was going to pounce, so he might as well be braced and waiting. She wrapped her long limbs around his waist and neck and savored the familiar feeling of safety. She grinned at Sakura over Li's shoulder and hugged him tighter. Sakura chuckled, steady in the relationship Li had with his ex-fiance, and in the friendship the two girls shared. Li let her hold on to him for a full thirty seconds before he realized he couldn't breath. He tapped her on the shoulder and choked out a protest.

"Oh! Sorry Syaoran." Meilin jumped off and brushed the wrinkles from his t-shirt. Li let the faint blushes fade from his cheeks before he bent over and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Welcome home Meilin." he held out his hand behind him to catch Sakura's, and draped a long limb over Meilin's shoulder to maneuver her toward the door.

"Thanks. I can't believe my mother let me come without Wei though, but he said I was old enough for a trip without an aging chaperone. I think he was getting tired of me bugging him."

"Ah, Meilin, you never bug, you are the soul of compromise and discretion." Li joked. Meilin looked at him oddly as he unlocked the door and let her inside first.

"Japan must be good for you." She muttered, "Your cracking jokes, and smiles at the same time!"

"Yes, Meilin, I'm training him to make use of his sense of humor. It is working well, when it works." Sakura joked with Meilin, Li just stood and let them rag on him. He was just happy to have the two girls he depended on the most with him at the same time. For some reason it now felt that he was surrounded by family.

* * *

Tomoyo watched through the view finder as Meilin lept onto Syaoran, but then swiveled the lense back toward Yuki. His face was set in an impressive stone line. But his eyes were incredibly sad. As the others started joking she walked to Yuki and turned off the camera.

"You know, when they were little Meilin and Syaoran-kun made a promise that if they didn't find anyone they loved more than each other, then they would get married. When Li found Sakura, Meilin didn't take it well at first, but she understood that Sakura and Li belonged together."

"They are very lucky." Yuki muttered, "To have a friend like Meilin."

"I didn't take it as well." Tomoyo admitted with a small smile. "I love Sakura very much, and I was resentful when Li showed up and took her away from me." Yuki looked down at the dark haired girl and blinked.

"How did you get over it?" he surprised himself by asking.

"I took a deep look inside myself and realized that more than anything, I wanted Sakura to be happy. And if Li is the one she is meant for, who truly makes her happy, then I can step aside and let them be happy together." Sakura looked out the door and gestured for them to join the others. Tomoyo acknowledged with a nod.

"That is very wise Tomoyo-chan." Yuki looked up at the sky. The clouds were fluffy in a light blue sky, it was a beautiful day.

"It works…" she took a deep breath and took hold of Yuki's hand, "Sometimes it still hurts though… Come in for tea, Meilin may not be able to bake a cake to save her life, but she makes an awesome pot of tea."


	11. eavesdropping and sugar rolls

this is already so much longer than i planned it! i have the ending, but i need to get to it! AHHH! anyway, sorry these updates are so short, but its better to be good, short chapters than long sucky chapters.

i haven't done this in a while so- fb and cc do not belong to me.

* * *

Sakura left her house early, passing her brother who was cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

"Up already _kaijuu_?" he taunted.

"Going to the city today." Sakura grabbed a sweet roll from the pile Toya had prepared, and a travel mug of coffee, adding milk and sugar in massive quantities.

"Why bother with the coffee?" Toya muttered as he did every morning.

"The taste." Sakura replied, again.

"Where in the city?" Toya asked, it always paid to keep tabs on the kid.

"A dress making place that Yuki's brother owns." Sakura turned at her brothers puzzled sound.

"Sohma. Not Yukito-san." she expanded.

"Ah, well, have fun. Don't forget, I'm working tonight, so you're on your own for dinner." he pointed to the board which kept the familys schedules straight. Their father was coming back from his dig in a few days. Sakura couldn't wait.

"Ok." She snagged another sweet roll from Toya's pile and hurried on her way.

* * *

"You're bright and early this morning Sakura." Meilin grinned as the brunette skid to a stop at her front door.

"_Hai_!" Sakura bowed and Meilin bowed in return. Formalities out of the way the girls each flung an arm around the other and sat on the front porch to wait for the others. "So how are you settling in?"

"Very well. Everything just seems to fall into place when Syaoran and I are together. By the way, he told me of this curse thing you've gotten from Miss. Mitzuki."

"And?" knowing the Chinese girl wouldn't bring it up if she didn't have something to add.

"I think my sister uses something similar. She doesn't have a lot of power, like you and Syaoran, but what she has she uses wisely. This pendant sounds like something she would wear to keep her extra energy in."

"_Hoeee_?"

"Yes, I think you're right about it being storage." Meilin nodded when Sakura grinned, "but I also think it came to you, at this time, for a reason." A loud laugh and a sedate answer interrupted Meilin, the laugh had come from the arrival of Tohru, Uo, and Hana.

"Hello!" Tohru greeted them.

"And then there was one." Meilin muttered.

"Tomoyo has not joined us yet." Sakura took a sip of her "coffee" and stood to greet the others. Meilin just sat on the porch, observing until Sakura motioned her forward.

* * *

Li stood at the door to the Sohma's, he heard the elder cousin scolding Kyo over the younger ones grumblings. For such a private family, their voices were loud, and their walls were thin. Hearing yet another request for the eldest to shut up, Li decided to knock.

"Syaoran?" Kyo flung open the entrance and stood, puzzled, "Tohru left a little while ago. Didn't she make it?"

"_Hai_, I was just in the neighborhood… was wondering if you'd want to walk with me?" Li gestured softly to where Shigure was leaning against the living room door, his ear to the thin paper wall.

"Of course. Just let me grab some water, you want something?"

"A bottle would be nice." Kyo went to the hall as if going to the kitchen, but stopped on his way and opened the sliding door into the family room. Shigure promptly fell on his nosy ear.

"Oy!" he complained, rubbing the offending organ, "Kyo…"

"That's what you get for eavesdropping you stupid mutt."


	12. cures and dresses

"So…" Li started out as the two walked down the street, "how's school going for you? Not too hard I hope?"

"Li, cut the crap, just tell me what you want."

They continued walking, Li with his hands clasped lightly behind his back, his head up, Kyo with his hands stuffed in his pocket and slouched over like a prowling panther. In the silence Kyo smiled, realizing that Li had come back into his life seamlessly. It was almost awkward, the realization that Li felt more like family than his blood relatives did. But it was nothing that Kyo didn't welcome.

"We think we've found out what the amulet does." Li said into the quiet. Kyo's head came up and his eyes pierced a glare into his friends.

"What do you mean, does?" Li stopped, just outside the penguin park, and placed a hand on Kyo's shoulder.

"We think its used to imprison curses."

* * *

The girls were almost fidgeting waiting for Tomoyo to arrive. She'd told Sakura she might be late, but that she'd have a surprise to make up for it.

"I wonder what kind of surprise she has?" Uo sat on the porch step and, for all the world, looked like she ruled there with a relaxed slump.

"I bet its cake." came a hopeful voice from Sakura's purse. Meilin looked over, having been the only one near enough to hear it, and the hard slap that came from Sakura's startled hand. The others turned to look at Meilin as she burst out laughing and Sakura's face flushed a bright red.

The others turned to look at the couple, Sakura waved her hand, "Its nothing." as Meilin struggled to control her laughter.

About that time a gigantic van pulled to a stop in front of the house.

"Oh no." Meilin stopped laughing immediately.

"I think I know what her surprise is." Sakura grinned, immensely glad to be able to get some of her own back. After all the outfits Tomoyo had made for Sakura over the years, she had never seen one that she didn't like. And now it seemed like Tomoyo had decided they would all be her dolls.

"Hi guys!" Tomoyo waved from the drivers seat. After many fights and "discussions" with her mother Tomoyo had fought off the oppressive waves of body guards as long as she was going somewhere with Sakura, who had other means of defending them. So she was alone in the van, with a devilish gleam in her eyes that only Sakura and Meilin understood. Tohru tilted her head.

"I thought we were going to take the train?"

* * *

"Curses?" Kyo had moved to the swings and sat, swaying a little. Li sat next to him.

"Yes. Do you want to know more?" Li would give him a chance, but it was something that Kyo had to want for it to work. Even after being trapped in the cats body himself, Li could see where the boy would have trouble giving up the oppressive spirit. Merely transferring consciousness was so painful the boys almost passed out. Li was talking about removing the spirit completely. Kyo lifted his gaze to Li's.

"Tell me."

* * *

"I'm not changing." Uo's voice was so cold she could have frozen the small ornamental pond in Li's front yard.

"You haven't even seen the outfits yet." Tomoyo grinned, "I made them all specially for the individual. Come on, I want to show off for Yuki's cousin. I googled him a few nights ago. He's really got a specialty shop! The outfits I saw on line were amazing!" She clutched a piece of day-glo purple fabric to her breast and twirled around. "Please Uo-san? You don't have to keep it on if you don't like it! Just try it on!"

If anybody had ever been able to say "no" to Tomoyo, it was not Uo. Before she knew what was happening she'd been captured and dragged away to the back of the van.


	13. dolllike and playground humor

the girls parts are all descriptions of dresses that Tomoyo made for them, so if you don't care, don't read. don't give me a review that says something like, "who cares?" Because i warned you.

* * *

"Ok Kyo, you know how everything has a balance right?" Li decided to start out simple.

"Yeah, like black and white." Kyo nodded.

"Kind of. More like a negative charge and a positive charge in a battery." Li looked around for an example, and spied a kid at the end of the park on the swings. "Like physics. Every action has an equal but opposite reaction. See that kid?"

"Yeah." Kyo smiled, the kid looked like he was having fun.

"Every time he goes up, he comes back down. If he didn't keep his legs pumping, sooner or later the reaction would stop too."

"Ok, so how does this relate to the CAT?"

"Somehow, Kyo, you and the rest of the zodiacs, keep pumping your legs." Li shrugged. "Something inside you tells your body that it cannot survive without the spirits so it keeps… I don't know, it…"

"It traps the CAT inside, even as it repels." Kyo muttered. "I felt it, when we switched bodys. It hurt, a lot, and it wanted to keep you the same way it kept me."

"But I have protections against something invading my body Kyo, in normal circumstances the CAT would never have been able to even think about jumping into my body. But we were weak when we switched. If Sakura hadn't been there, and Eriol too now that I think about it, I don't know what would have happened."

"So, this is a positive conversation." Kyo drawled as the kid flung himself from the swing. He landed neatly on both feet, and only stumbled a little as he went to run off. Kyo watched the kid run, and wondered if he'd ever been so carefree. Then he looked over at Li, and wondered the same thing. The boy always seemed so… "You're too serious!" he accused. Li frowned at his friend.

"What, do you want me to crack a joke? I know several." he lifted a brown brow in query.

"I dunno. Your just always… so…"

"Why did the French nun go to China?"

"What?"

"Why did the French nun go to China?" Li insisted.

"I don't know, why?" Kyo crossed his arms, waiting to be impressed.

* * *

"I knew it!" Tomoyo's voice rang out cheerfully. Half an hour before she had taken all her friends and improved them. She was having the time of her life and they hadn't even left Meilin's yard yet. Sakura blushed as the camera swept over her, always her best work. Tomoyo thought with a grin. A short pink dress with fluttery sleeves, stars and moons and suns appliquéd over the filmy material. Her hair was pulled back with two star barrettes that had ribbons floating from them, and her cute mary jane shoes were pink with a sun buckle on one and a moon buckle on the other. Meilin had submitted without a fuss and was now wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a red Chinese style shirt with ribbon enclosures on one side. The sides of her pants had silver lighting bolts racing each other on the sides, the shirt had silver piping. Meilin had taken to leaving her hair down from the buns she used to wear as a child, but Tomoyo couldn't help that her predominant image of the girl was with bun wraps. Luckily Meilin didn't mind that Tomoyo had made a pair up. Tohru was adorable in a dress that was almost like Sakura's, but a baby blue with zodiac animals stitched along the bottom hem. Hana had been easy, almost too easy considering the fact that the girl only wore black outside of their uniform. Tomoyo made up a long black shift dress that was covered over with a dull silver spider web material. The sleeves were made only of the spider web, and connected to the middle fingers of each hand with two silver pipe rings. She had fun curling the girls hair until it was arranged as ringlets down her back. Uo had been her only real challenge. Not only in designing something for the girl, but in getting her to wear it. She had to admit, if only to herself, she was a real genius. Once she showed Uo the outfit the girl had been speechless.

"Ladies, may I present…"

* * *

"She was a Roman Catholic." Li delivered with a straight face.

"Huh?"

* * *

"Arisa Uotani-san!" Tomoyo swept out her arms and pulled Uo into the light. She actually looked happy as she twirled around to give everyone a better look. If she hadn't been wearing pants underneath the skirt would have been too short for decency, but the kilt pattern was fluttery over the pants made from the same red material. A short white v-neck t-shirt was layed over with a vest of black leather and huge shiny buckles. Two buckles cuffed her wrists while another wrapped around her neck. With her hair pulled back she looked like an American punk-rocker.

"Isn't she adorable?" Tomoyo preened. Tohru smiled hesitantly while Hanajima grinned as much as she could with her mouth closed.

"Hoe?" Sakura squealed, "It looks so cute! I didn't think you'd make this one!" Sakura had seen Tomoyo's sketch book and made comments on different styles. But she always wondered where the ideas had come from for the outfits Tomoyo made for her.

"I could so totally kick ass in this!" Uo pumped her fist in the air and grinned. Tohru smiled when she realized her friend was happy. She just wanted everyone to have a good time.

"Everybody ready?" Tomoyo asked from behind the camera. Uo looked at her and placed her hands on her waist.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Where is your dress?" Hana caught on.

"I'm wearing it."

"Take off the coat." Uo tucked her hands in the roomy pockets and grinned mischievously. Tomoyo merely looked over the camera and smirked. "Give me your camera. I need to see this." There was a slight jostling while the camera switched hands.

"Ready?" Tomoyo teased.

* * *

"A Roman Catholic?"

"Get it?"

"…"

"Roaming…"

"…"

"From France to China…"

"Roaming?"

"Yeah."

"That was really bad."

"Two muffins were sitting in an oven. One muffin turned to the other and said, Gosh its hot in here. The second muffin turned to the first and said…"

* * *

She flicked the shoulders of her trench coat down, revealing nothing more than a clear expansion of shoulders. Creamy skin and a couple of silver chains looped around her neck.

"Wooooohoooo!" Uo teased, "Take it off!" Sakura smiled, happy that her new friends and older friends were having fun with each other. Meilin nudged her gently and handed her a small pink hat Tomoyo had concealed from the others earlier.

"For the plushy." she whispered as Tomoyo whisked the coat away with a flourish. Pure white dazzled the midday sun. her dress was held up at her chest with stretchy lace and conformed to her body until her hips. It flared out and as she spun the others noticed the under layers of lacey skirts. She didn't wear any hose, but the white flats she wore were accompanied by lacey socks that fanned out over the star buckles. She wore loose silver chains around her neck and left wrist, and large silver stars connected to her ears.

"Oh, wow!" Sakura breathed out.

"Wooooooooohooo!" Uo pumped a fist in the air, "We'll show Yuki's brother! Decked out like this! He'll eat your dust girl-o!"

* * *

"Oh my god! it's a talking muffin!."

* * *

I'm sorry! i had to get that joke in something! I've loved the muffin joke since high school! AHHH!

please don't flame me for my lame jokes!


	14. genuflecting and dress up time

"OHHH!" a happy voice, one that drawled pleasantly and with a pitch that was slightly higher thanSakura expected, exploded from the suddenly flung open doors. "WELCOME!" his arms flung out to the sides and then caught Tohru up, clinging his hands to her forearms and pressing a chaste kiss on her forehead. "My lovely Tohru!" His hair was solid white, braided in a solid line down his back. For once Tohru saw him wearing pants, skin tight red with tiny snakes embroidered on the large cuffs that covered his feet. Aya, though, wasn't wearing a shirt. Tohru felt her face flush the same red as his pants as he gushed over her outfit and welcomed the rest of the girls inside. "I closed the store the second Yuki told me you were coming with your friends, I wouldn't want anything to interrupt us now would I? Of course I wouldn't!" he answered himself as Tohru nodded dumbly. "Now who are your friends here?" he snagged a white robe from just inside the door and draped it around his skinny frame, neglecting to close it,as he held out a hand to catch whomever happened to be standing near it. Tomoyo stepped up right away.

"Ayame-san?" Tohru struggled toget over her shock, it wasn't as bad as the wedding dress incident anyway, "This is Tomoyo-kun."

"Tomoyo-chan!" Aya bowed lavishly over her hand, "I can tell that you are the creator of these marvelous costumes, your fingers, though soft and delicate, show the rigors of sewing from the heart!" Tomoyo smiled prettily at the comment and curtsied in acknowledgement.

"Ayame-san," she waved toward the others, "I could not come for a visit without showing my own talents. When Yuki told me what it was you did, I just had to meet you."

"Oh, my baby brother!" Aya wiped his eye as if shedding a tear, "finally showing an interest in my work! To let such a vision even know we are related!"

"Yeah, well maybe if you didn't talk so much he would say more stuff. Ever think of that?" Uo muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the front wall. Aya looked over and hummed.

"Oh, the buckles dear are marvelous." still holding Tomoyo's hand he smiled brilliantly. "I have a client who enjoys buckles, I may be able to persuade him as to the color…" he seemed to deliberate to himself, "but he does seem to have a penchant for black leather… You don't, I'm assuming, my dear?" Uo, not quite sure what to make of that comment, shrugged.

"I prefer jeans myself."

"And a lovely look it would be on you. Jean pants, jean jacket, with a little t-shirt top… Oh Tomoyo-chan, I have much to show you! Let us depart to the finished back room!" He dragged the girl behind him, ready to show off his brilliance. Meilin and Uo opted to stay in the front with the bolts of cloth.

* * *

"Li, if you tell me one more joke, I'm going to genuflect." Kyo couldn't take it anymore, Li might have had a sense of humor, but his delivery was a problem. 

"Kyo, just tell me one thing."

"If it doesn't involve puns, I'm all yours."

"What do you think you'd do if you didn't have the CAT to worry about anymore?"

"First thing?" Kyo asked, leaning back in the swing he had chosen. They were alone in the park, the sky was just starting to turn. He could see tiny stars in half of it, while the other was starting to show the brilliant colors of a sunset.

"Yeah." Li sat in a swing next to Kyo, and started pumping gently.

"Grab that girl and hold on for dear life." admitting it, out loud, to his closest friend, made Kyo realize that it was true. If he could take Tohru and just keep her, he'd do anything.

"Do you think it would be worth the pain? The chance that it might not work?" Li shook his head,"I still don't know what it is that attracted the zodiac to you in the first place Kyo."

"How so?"

"In order for the CAT to be in you, there had to be something missing, from birth, that would let him inside. Otherwise there would have been no room for it and it would have been expelled. Newborns are ridiculously hard to spell cast on because they are so incredibly pure at the start of their lives. But the CAT had to have been in you since you were born to be able to have such a hold on you."

"Not just me though huh? The others in the zodiac…"

"There is something in every member of the zodiac that has to have been missing since birth in order for these curses to take effect. We have to find out what that is, and fix it Kyo, or that empty space will just attract other things when we get rid of the CAT."

"How do we figure that out?"

"Tell me Kyo, does your family have a library?"

* * *

Tomoyo was in heaven. She almost cried when Aya pulled out a full length slip, so shear they could see his hand on the other side, but so tough that he pulled with all his might and nothing warped the cloth. Then he showed her the effect it had on the inner slip, made of soft blue silk. It turned the simple silk into a shimmering waterfall. 

"Ohh." she sighed, then turned to Sakura, her hand held over her own heart.

"Hoooe?"

"Can we Aya-san?"

"Dress up?" he laughed.

"Hoooe?"

* * *

"Yes," Kyo nodded, "We have a library, but you need to ask Akito's permission before using it. And he's not happy with any of us right now." 

"Whats wrong?"

"Li, you know a lot about us, the Sohma's I mean."

"Yes, but I still don't know a lot." Li swung a little higher, "I know that you told me to stay away from Akito when we switched, and I learned a little on my own from how the others in the dojo were speaking of him. He sounds like a sadistic bastard to me."

"He is." Kyo nodded and watched as the sky grew darker. "He met with Tohru, almost pulled the hair from her scalp. But I think she confused him, because it's been a couple of years since then, and he hasn't talked to her since. He's pretty much left us alone. But he ordered Yuki to him a couple of weeks ago…" he stopped talking and waited for Li to stop swinging.

"What?"

"He came home white as a sheet. Shaking. He said something about not feeling well and went to bed. I didn't even try to pick a fight with him. He was like something from the living dead." Kyo looked into Li's eyes and shook his head, "I don't even know if I should be telling you this, but…"

"Kyo, if I'm going to help you, I need all the information I can get."

"He keeps waking up, screaming almost. Like whatever is in his dream is so horrible that he can't even talk. So when he wakes up he's smothering in his own fear. The CAT smells it, the CAT likes it."

* * *

By the time Aya and Tomoyo had played dress up to their hearts content both Sakura and Tohru felt like the dolls the others had treated them like. Aya had tentatively asked Hana if she would like to play, but only got a vacant stare as the girl went back to reading one of Shigure's books that Aya had on display. Meilin and Uo had stayed in the front, sitting on one of the couches and sipping tea as they discussed various forms of martial arts. It was fully dark when they got back into the clothes they came in, and left, promising Aya that they'd visit again. 

"Oh, please do, I know we had such a marvelous time!"

"Please come visit me, Aya-san, I've never had anyone critique my work before, and I just love your style!" Tomoyo was very happy with the looks she tried on Sakura. Some of them were bolder than anything she'd tried before, but she patted her camcorder… the future was something else all together.

They each ended up with a present outfit from Aya before they could get out the door. Even Uo, Hana and Meilin got one.

"I hope you all had a pleasant visit?" Tomoyo asked once they hopped on the train for Tomoeda.She was humming from left over enjoyment.

"It was very enjoyable. I liked listening to you to hash over styles. Pros and cons." Meilin commented. "It was relaxing to really do nothing but sit and talk, and I think that Uo and I might go see what Kyo's martial arts teacher is doing. Apparently Kyo's been bragging about his training again." Uo nodded.

"Stupid carrot top thinks he can brag and not back it up? Meilin's gonna challenge him to a match."

"Really?" Hana looked up from examining the contents of her present. So far she was pleased, it was black, but beyond that she couldn't really see.

"Yup."

"Last time we fought…" Meilin looked a little wistful, "it was cut short."

"You should wear your present when you fight him." Tomoyo commented, whipping her camera out to record the events. "Go ahead, look inside."

Meilin smiled when she opened her box and noticed thered fabric shimmering underneath. It was a short chinese style fight jacket, long with slits up the side until the seperation ended just under the breast line. In fighting they could be used assheilds or whips when used correctly. The under outfit was form fitting black stitched with goldlightning bolts so it looked like a frantic child had tried to draw lines with string. The cuffs of the pants flared out to hide the feet, the expanse of fabric could, once again, be used to confuse the opponent as well as deliver slight hits that would not be expected.

"This is beautiful." she noticed even that he had plucked a pair of soft dojo slippers out of thin air, that would fit her small feet. "The man has some talent."

* * *

thank you all for your reviews so far.

cheshire katt- i didn't even think yugi when i made up that outfit, but i had to use the coincidence anyway! thanks!

cheerful-pink star- gosh, you're wonderful for reading this and for cheering me on! thanks!

and- just to let the die hard fans know- i don't know what happens in fruits basket after the 8th book in the series so i'm going pretty much by the anime, where Tohru went to visit Akito and he flipped out.

the scene i promised in my first crossover between eriol and Akito is coming up... it's going to be a doosey once i finish writing it. hope i don't dissapoint!


	15. a nighttime visit

The young man was sitting, sprawled in the doorway between the room and the garden outside. His heavy kimono fell off one shoulder, showing the lighter red silk beneath, and an expanse of creamy white skin. His arms and legs were so skinny that the predominant image was of a doll, thrown in the corner and forgotten. He looked lonely, sadly pathetic, until his eyes swung around and pierced the darkness with their hatred.

"Who let you in here?" his voice was soft, but underlying the cloying child-like timbre was a hard edge that caused many to shiver in fear.

"I let myself in." The shadow was tall, leaning negligently against the doorframe, his shoulders broad enough to almost fill the length of the open door.

"Get out." the boy hissed, then turned back toward the garden, used to having his orders obeyed, he expected the intruder to leave.

"We need to talk Akito." he looked up as the man entered the room. Piercing dark blue eyes peaked out from behind small round glasses, a steady frown graced the man's lips.

"Guards!" Akito shrieked.

"They're all asleep." the lips smirked, "like I said, we need to talk, and interruptions are not welcome." He pushed down on Akito's shoulder as the young man tried to get to his feet to retaliate in some way. Akito, never steady at night to begin with, fell to the floor with a painful crash, bruising his elbow. The man knelt next to him and steadied him until he too was kneeling on the floor, facing the strange man.

"Who are you?"

"All you need to know about me, is that I am here to talk to you about your curse." he grinned, "but if you must call me something, then let me be known as Eriol, reincarnation of Clow."

Something inside Akito stirred restlessly at the naming of Eriol, the spirit inside him whispered nasty threats as Akito studied him. His black hair was silky, but not in a cut most Japanese men wore. The man wore a sport jacket over a blue Chinese buttoned up collar shirt. The mix should have seemed awkward, but somehow it combined to make the man seem more powerful than a simple suit should have.

"Then talk, and be on your way." Akito glared, pushing his robe up his shoulder in an angry, static motion. "Nothing you say will be of consequence."

"Not even if I told you I had a cure for you?"

"What are you selling?"

"Nothing you have, I need permission to view your books." Eriol shrugged. "I have a few pupils who are busy working on something at the moment, and I need them to study your family histories."

"Screw you." Akito hissed nastily, "My family's past is for my eyes only." he struggled back to his feet and thumped to the ground again as Eriol muttered something under his breath. Akito grabbed Eriol's shirt front and yanked with as much strength as he could gather, but only succeeded in unbalancing himself again. He landed in an ungainly sprawl at Eriol's knees.

"You don't want a cure, do you? You enjoy tugging everyone's strings."

"Who are you to judge me? ME?" he hissed, "I didn't ask for this!"

"Yes. You did." Eriol frowned and pushed the boy back up to a kneeling position.

"Nobody asked me if I wanted to be sick with this thing inside me!" Akito yelled, "I'm going to die! Horribly! And its all their fault!"

"Such a horrible little person you really are." Eriol shook his head. "Really, almost everyone in this family is."

"SHUT UP!"

"You know why this curse isn't broken yet? Because it should be! It should have been easy, "with ones acceptance of another and another's acceptance of himself!" Those are the curses goals, and this family has met them, in every single generation! I know! I've watched!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Its because this family is so incredibly selfish, childish idiots that you all are, you can't even spare an ounce of compassion for your own unborn children!"

"I didn't ask for this!"

"No! But you accepted it into your heart the moment you were born!" he shot back. "The others were all born with this same thing, this missing part of their heart that every child should have! Your parents were so incredibly busy with themselves that they left the pathway open for this curse, OVER and OVER again!"

"That's not my fault." Akito swiped the robe back up as it fell, he surged to his feet and pulled back his fist.

"You think you can harm me? Emperor?" his eyes glowed as he got to his own feet. The fist fell, suddenly Akito felt the thing inside him, the arrogance turned into a panic that he'd never felt before. He felt sick as the man stalked forward, forcing him against the wall. He grabbed Akito's chin and shoved it up so their eyes met. "Akito, this spirit inside of you chose you because there was a lacking in your soul. You could have changed that the moment you were born, but you chose not to. Whether you choose to believe it or not, destiny is decided in that single moment between birth and your first complete thought. You, and you alone of the zodiac, chose to perpetuate this cycle. You wanted power over others, and the Emperor spirit chose that time to jump from his last vessel to you." Eriol released his chin with disgust, but glared into his eyes to see the panic of the spirit inside him flicker weakly. "and you welcomed it with open arms. You embraced it, and used it." He stepped back and let the boy fall, limply to the ground.

"Shut up." Akito panted, feeling as if he'd run a mile in cement slippers.

"I would have stepped in before, but I had no idea how badly this had spread. And I had other, more important matters to attend to."

"Leave."

"You will allow the children to use the books. They must find out for themselves what it is they lack. Once they do, the seeds of this curse will be abolished, and you, my dear Emperor, will have no hold over them."

"No one will read my private books."

"Yes, they will." Eriol's eyes flashed as if lightning had somehow become captured in his pupils.

"Leave now."

"I'm not going anywhere until you swear to me, you will not impede the children in any way. You will not punish them for this. You will cease your manipulations against the zodiac, or I will come back and we'll find out if my new powers are as daunting as my old ones were."

"Go…" Akito stood, his back against the wall to steady himself. "And never return." His fist clenched. Akito launched himself at the man. He bounced off something an inch from Eriol's face. "It won't work." Akito stared at the man, shaking as he leaned against the wall. Eriol reached out his hand and wrapped it around Akito's skinny neck. He then dragged the boy to the futon in the middle of the room and threw him down on it. Akito sprawled, but stared up at the man with worried eyes. He no longer glared, but was more amazed at his inability to cowl the man.

"HATORI!" Akito shrieked, his arms and legs thrashing wildly.

"Swear to me." Eriol insisted.

"HATORI!"

"Now." Eriol grabbed the boys chin again and forced him to look into his eyes.

"I Swear." he said breathlessly still.

"Good."

And then he was gone, the door slid open and Akito started. Hatori, his doctor, and the dragon of the zodiac stepped in, his robe thrown on hastily as if he had jumped from bed and started running. His hair, usually combed carefully to hide his blind eye, was sticking wildly in different directions.

"Akito-san?" the boy was sitting straight up in bed, staring at the wall, shivering madly.

"Hatori?" he took a deep breath and looked over at the doctor.

"What's wrong?" he walked into the room and took Akito's pulse. His heart was beating so fast Hatori was amazed it hadn't burst.

"If anyone comes and wants to look at my books, let them." he whispered, then fainted dead away.

* * *

I really have no idea how the curse came to be or how it could be disspelled. like i said earlier i only know up to book 8, and they don't explain it in the anime. but for some reason, my version seems to make sense to me. i thought it would be interesting if this was the case. Anyway, yes, i know that it seemed a little OC for Eriol to be so mean, but then again, he didn't really let up much on Sakura when he knew she had to change the cards. So maybe its not really that OC. I just like how hard-ass he was.

i had to write this thing like, three times before i got to the point where i liked it enough to post. Someday i'm going to take this whole thing and just edit until its really good. but until then, enjoy this version. please!


	16. a sleepover

"So Akito is in a coma?" Shigure's voice drifted up from the main hallway where the dog was on the phone with the dragon. "Is that unusual at his age? With his part of the curse?" an few seconds later, "well, I know that you don't have access to a lot of that information…" he sounded defensive. "What? Why would he say that?" a few hums and then, "well, that's awkward. Just let them look at the books? Who?" Yuki frowned as Shigure stopped humming to himself, "You don't know? He just said to let anyone look at the journals? That can't be right." Shigure sighed, "yeah, I know, just look after him huh? Yeah, bye."

Yuki hustled back to his room when he heard Shigure approach the stairs.

"What was the phone call about?" Yuki heard Kyo ask from his own open doorway. Shigure shrugged and muttered "nothing" before going into his room and shutting the door. "Yo, rat-boy!" Kyo hissed.

"Akito is in a coma." Yuki answered quietly.

"Shit." Yuki frowned as Kyo swore.

"I thought that would make you happy Kyo, he would be yelling at you if he died."

"I need to ask him a favor." Kyo didn't sound too happy about it.

"What for?" Yuki asked, amazed, not realizing that this was the first conversation they'd ever had that made it so far without breaking out into a fight.

"Li needs to study some of his books for some magic thing." Kyo shrugged, "I guess I'll just have to tell him its impossible now." Kyo sighed.

"That's a weird coincidence." Yuki forgot himself enough to actually lean against Kyo's open doorframe, "Shigure was saying something about Akito telling Hatori that if someone wanted to look at the journals, then to let them."

"Holy shit." Kyo's eyes narrowed, "You sure?"

"Positive."

"Hell, I gotta call Li." He got to his feet then glared at his cousin, "Move."

Li hung up the phone and held his breath. Letting it out, he sighed. "There are no coincidences."

"What's going on Syaoran?" Meilin asked from the kitchen, her latest attempt at cooking sat on the stove. She poked the macaroni casserole with a fork and grinned when it didn't get stuck in the middle. "I think this one is edible!" Li walked into the kitchen, took up his own fork, and dug a piece out. He took a bite and thoughtfully chewed it. Swallowing he smiled at Meilin.

"Its good."

"Really?" her eyes grew large as she smiled, "Really?"

"Try it." Li smirked, "if you don't believe me." She took a bite then laughed, almost maniacally.

"Its food!"

"Lets have lunch, I'll tell you what Kyo wanted."

"Why did you call Li?" Yuki asked as Kyo hung up.

"Because he needs to know more about the curse Yuki." Kyo didn't feel up to fighting, for once, so he told his cousin without giving him a hard time. "He's trying to help us." Kyo turned to leave the hallway, Yuki clamped his hand on Kyo's shoulder.

"Help us how?"

"Do you really want to have this conversation inside?" Kyo snarled, "because I sure as hell don't think that Shigure needs to hear this."

"Outside, my garden." Yuki took his hand away and lead the way in silence.

He sat on a rock, letting Kyo decide to sit on the ground or pace. Kyo did neither, he grabbed a low branch of a tree and swung himself up. Lying on it he glared at Yuki.

"Do you really want to know what Li told me, because I hate to get your hopes up."

"No, you'd love to get my hopes up, then crunch them under your boot." Yuki scoffed. Kyo let one eyebrow raise as he realized just how violent his relationship with his cousin was. With Li and the others back in his life Kyo had found a balance that he hadn't had in a long time.

"How did we get like this?" Kyo mused, not answering Yuki's statement.

"How do you mean?"

"Why do we hate each other so much?" Kyo let one arm dangle and stared at the tips of his fingers as he hummed. "Its not like we ever did anything to each other to make us fight. Do you remember the first day we met?"

"At the dojo."

"Yeah. God you were such a scrawny kid." Kyo shook his head and laid it on his other hand.

"Akito didn't let me out much." Yuki fingered some of the smaller scars on the top of wrist, thin white lines that didn't show under his pale skin.

"Yeah, skittish as hell. You remember what Shishou did?"

"He had us fight each other. You gave me a black eye."

"You bit me."

"I didn't know martial arts back then."

"You bit me." Yuki shrugged, "I always wished I had the courage to bite Akito."

"I wish I had to courage to kick his head off."

"You would."

"You callin me out?"

"No, just tell me what Li needs the books for."

"A cure."  
"…" Yuki turned to glare at his cousin, "There is no cure!"

"He has something that could trap the zodiac animals away. He just needs to know how he can get them separate and make sure nothing else fills the gap that they leave. He thinks that if he can just read how it all started, or at least some of the histories, he can figure out how to do that."

"You still think your friends are magicians?"

"I spent an entire day as Li. I know my friends are able to use something that I can only read about in books."

"Fine. Good luck. You're going to need it."

"Come with us to the main house." Kyo found himself offering. Shocking himself, he noticed the shock on Yuki's face as well when he accepted.

"So we're going to the Sohma estate tomorrow?" Sakura lounged against Syaoran's chest, his arms wrapped around her stomach as they watched a movie on TV. Sakura picked it out from the video store, saying it looked interesting for a foreign film.

"Yeah. Apparently before Akito collapsed he open his library to anyone who wants to use it." Li shrugged, "it seems to good to be true." Sakura knew he was frowning from the tone of his voice. She giggled as the character dressed in black was pushed down a large hill, and the woman who pushed him realized who he was. Then she threw herself down the hill.

"Oh, that's so sweet." she stroked Li's hand absently not noticing when it twitched.

"What?" Syaoran was too aware of her fingers lightly glancing his, "a broken neck?" Sakura looked up at him and smiled.

"Their going to make up." she said as the characters on the screen collapsed into a passionate embrace.

"This is true love, you think this happens every day?" the man in black asked.

"Of course not." Sakura answered him, but still grinned with her eyes captured by Syaoran's.

"Are you happy Sakura?" Syaoran suddenly wanted to know.

"You're here, of course I'm happy." She wiggled around until they were face to face. She sat in his lap and kissed him lightly. "when you were gone, it was like this big chunk of my life was missing. I didn' t like it." Syaoran hugged her tighter and took a deep breath as her body pressed against his.

"When I was in Hong-Kong I spent so much time in the garden."

"The garden?"

"Under the cherry blossoms." he smiled when she did, "somehow it made me feel just that much closer to you."

"I love being close to you." Sakura bent to kiss him, both her arms wrapped around his neck. His hand snaked under her shirt to stroke her smooth back. The characters on the screen where making their way through a dark, gnarled forest.

"Can I stay tonight?" Li asked, pulling back gently and kissing her nose.

"What about the ROUS's?" the girl in red asked.

"If you want."

"Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist-"

"If you want." Li corrected as the man in black battled a large Rat. Sakura let her mind be destracted by the bloody battle on screen, but when the man in black seemed to be beaten, the woman rushed forth with a club to help. It was somewhat ineffectual.

"You know, sometimes I feel like I'm only slowing you down." Sakura admitted as the man once again saved the woman's life.

"Of course not. That's stupid." Syaoran brought her face back gently to look into her eyes again, "you've done nothing but make me a better person. I didn't have a sense of humor before you came into my life. Now look at me, I told Kyo my muffin joke."

"You didn't." Sakura bit her lip, "that's horrible."

"Its not that bad." Syaoran protested.

"Trust me, it is." Sakura bent down to kiss him again. "Toya is with the debate team, father isn't' back from his dig until Monday. Stay, I don't want to be alone."

"Tonight?"

"I'd rather it forever…" Sakura muttered against his lips. "but tonight is good for a start."


	17. a fighting chance

While Li and Sakura sat in a dim room, squinting over barely legible script in the dozen or so journals dug up from the Sohma library, Kyo decided to show Meilin and Tomoyo the estate.

"Not a lot of people ever get inside this place. We'll take advantage of it, show you around a bit." Kyo teased Tomoyo, "you can take all the pictures you want." To Yuki's never ending amazement at Kyo's friends, the dark haired girl pulled a camcorder from her impossibly huge purse and focused on Kyo's smiling face.

"Don't think I won't take you up on that offer." she laughed then swung the camera around to frame Yuki against the main house. "Especially with two of the hunkiest guys in the place as my feature point." Yuki managed to look away before blushing slightly, his hair covered his cheeks.

"I'm sure we'll find something better for you to tape Tomoyo-chan." Yuki coughed out. Tomoyo swung around to Meilin.

"Don't you love Meilin's outfit Yuki?" when Yuki nodded Tomoyo swung back around and grinned mischievously, "your brother made it." Yuki coughed.

"Ayame made that?" shock was evident on his face. "It's beautiful, looks nice on you." he complimented when he realized his incredulity was rude.

"Yes, it fits very nicely. Movement is free also. You wouldn't think to look at it, but it was very comfortable with my kata's this morning."

"So you can fight in skirts huh?" Kyo smirked.

"Would you like to find out?" Meilin stuck her face near Kyo's with a smirk of her own. Tomoyo nearly fluttered over the fire in both their eyes.

"So passionate." she cooed as shezoomed in.

"Well there is a dojo on the estate. Shishou wouldn't mind us using it."

"Then I shall issue a formal challenge. Two out of three floor hits." Meilin started to saunter off in the direction Kyo pointed. "Trust me Kyo, I was good before, and I've been practicing."

* * *

The opponents stepped out of their shoes and stood facing each other in the middle of the polished gleam of the dojo floor. Some of the Sohma children had been practicing, but Shishou recognized the gleam in his adoptive son's eye and decided that an impromptu demonstration between two highly skilled athletes could only provide something for the younger students to strive for. Somehow some of the members of the zodiac had heard of the match also. Hatsuharu leaned negligently against a tree outside across from an open door, with Kagura and Momiji settled at his feet they watched with curious gazes. Yuki sat, kneeled next to Shishou as the two bowed politely and settled into stance.

Meilin started with her _hsia shih_, bent knees balanced on the back leg with her arms open to defend. Deceptively simple it would allow her to react quickly to anything Kyo would attack with. Graceful she followed his movements and simply ducked out of the way as his leg swung out in a _yap chagi_. She turned with the side kick and tried to sweep his other leg out from under him, though he jumped to avoid and ended up blocking a high kick as she suddenly sprung up to aim for his chin. The fabric of the skirt he now saw was split to allow greater movement, he felt the silk brush his cheek as he ducked under a crescent kick. He backed off several feet and shook his head letting his hair fluff up as he cracked his neck.

"You have been practicing." he complimented.

"You too." Meilin refused to smile during a fight, but she felt like laughing, she was having a blast.

Kyo switched tactics and ran forward in a feight, only to jump over the shorter girl and twist so he faced her back. He kicked out using a _shotokan_ technique, bringing his foot up in a crane position for a split second before shoving it out into her lower back. She stumbled forward and caught herself a scant inch from the floor, her skirts puddled around like blood.

"Nice save." Kyo mentioned as she followed the motion into a handspring and ended up half way across the floor from him.

"You jump higher than you used to."

"Longer legs."

"Right." Meilin rolled her shoulders and swung her hands out to the sides. Then she smirked and settled into Li's stance for when facing off with Sakura's brother. It looked awkward at first glance but Yuki noticed both Shishou and Kyo grinned broader at the gesture from her hand to come forth.

"Smart girl."

"Master?" Yuki asked. He may have been naturally talented as a fighter, but both Kyo and his adoptive father were fight obsessed. Obscure moves were their passion. Kyo responded to Meilin's posture by standing in front of her and mimicking it.

Meilin blinked and the attacked. Kyo responded by mirroring every move, almost perfectly against. Every move could be blocked by its mirror. The children watched in rapt attention, literally unable to take their eyes from the whirlwind of red silk and orange hair in the center of the room. Then, in a move too fast to comprehend Kyo stopped mimicking and grabbed Meilin's arm. She stopped a second to late, so the punch she threw added to the force Kyo used in tossing her across the floor and into the sidelines… straight into Yuki's arms.

"POINT!" Shishou awarded. Yuki found himself holding the silk bundle as Meilin struggled in his arms.

"Crap!" she muttered then stopped moving. "Yuki, let me go."

"Your button is caught in my hair, you're not going anywhere until I know my hair won't be ripped from my skull. Don't get to close or I'll transform." he had a problem with buttons and hair, he decided as Shishou managed to untangle his gray locks from the Chinese girls outfit. She was back up and ready to fight.

* * *

"All these men are the most idiotic, self-absorbed, tight-assed jerks I've ever seen!" Sakura gave into the stifling atmosphere of the books, flung the one she just finished into a corner and stood to stalk to a garden door. She opened it and took a deep breath. "You know what they're missing Syaoran?" she asked, completely incensed that she'd even read half of what she knew to be the nightmare of the Sohma's.

"What is it?" Syaoran asked while flipping a page calmly. He was more used to sitting in the dusty book smell than she was. He could have spent an entire day sitting on the floor, reading the past.

"Compassion! Not one of them truly cared for another human being in their lives. I mean, just look at the way Akito treats Yuki… he thinks it love, but its not. He just can't stand not being in control of something he thinks of as being his. Every single man in those journals felt the same way." Sakura paced from the stack of books to the garden door, then back. Syaoran stood and took her shoulders in his hands. Kissing her gently he smoothed his hands over her back to work the tense muscles while holding her slender body to his.

"You know what? I think you just found the answer."

"What?" she pulled back for a second, but did not relinquish the contact.

"Your parents love you right?"

"Yeah."

"And my parents love me. I've never had to worry that might not be true. Now look at the zodiac family's." Li picked up a book, "this one tells me that none of the zodiac lived with their parents in this era. And the one I read before it was full of the mans satisfaction at being able to control half of them because they thought he cared about them. Now look at Kyo, his father won't even acknowledge he has a son, and his mother went insane because her boy wasn't perfect in her eyes. She must have thought he was tainted from the second he was born. Now wouldn't that kind of rejection leave a hole in your soul?"

"Just the right size for something else to fit." Sakura mused, "and what's more, where do you feel love? I mean, really feel it?"

"My stomach."

"Exactly, when you walk into a room where I'm at, I feel you in the pit of my stomach, and Kyo insists that the cat is in it belly."

"It is. Painful little bugger." Li spoke from experience. "Right in the back of your belly. Against the spine."

"What I've read says that when the CAT reaches maturity, they keep it locked away. Li, we can't let that happen." Li grabbed Sakura's hand and pressed her palm to his lips. Capturing her eyes with his own he smiled.

"We won't. We know what's missing now, and if the way Tohru looks at Kyo is any indication, I think we've got a cure in the workings."

* * *

Meilin and Kyo had been exchanging blow and counter blow for ten minutes before Meilin managed to kick Kyo firmly in the stomach and send him flying across the boards.

"Point, Li." Shishou awarded.

"Ok girly, you've heard the man, next one determines winner."

"Yes, I heard Kyo, there is nothing wrong with my ears." Kyo flipped up to his feet and settled an inch from Meilin.

They stood straight and smirked, daring the other to move.

"An inch forward and I get to take home a bag of cat food along with my prize."

"You want to make it more interesting?" Kyo didn't move.

"A side bet?"

"When I win you have to cook an edible dessert for me." Kyo laughed while Meilin's face blushed bright red.

"What's the hold up you stupid cat! Fight!" Hatsuharu yelled from the sidelines.

"Fine." Meilin agreed, "and when I win, you have to set me up on a date with Yuki."

"WHAT?" Kyo was so stunned that he forgot to pay attention to what Meilin was doing physically. So when she swiped out with her leg and pulled his knee forward with her heel, he flopped to the ground like a log.

He lay on the floor, still shocked by the request, and even more stunned by the fact that she had won and he had to figure out a way to get his hated cousin out on a date.

"Point Meilin Li." Shishou got to his feet and nodded politely to Meilin before helping his pupil up to his own.

"Good show." Meilin smirked.

"That was a nasty trick."

"Your not going to go back on your bet are you?" Meilin teased.

"No." Kyo felt himself blush again.

"Good."


	18. set up and knocked down

"Kyo?" Toru knelt next to the boy at the table. Yuki had told him about Kyo's defeat, but unlike the boy Tohru knew, Kyo didn't mutter one word about it. She half expected him to come to dinner with a black cloud over his head. But he just sat, calmly, and started eating the cod dish she prepared knowing it was one of his favorites.

"Oi?"

"Are you feeling all right?" Tohru placed her hand on his cheek, feeling for a temperature. Since this was one thing that the girl was forever obsessing about Kyo took it that she was just confused and tried to ignore what her skin next to his made his stomach do. Flipping about as it was, he put his chopsticks down and patted his belly.

"I'm fine." he smiled to let her know he wasn't lying, "I'm just trying to understand how she got me."

"What did she say Kyo?" Yuki asked, not looking up from his plate, "you were talking to her, it distracted you."

"Something about the bet we placed."

"Bet?" Shigure tittered, "so young and already gambling away his life. Oh woah is me."

"Why you?" Kyo snapped, "it doesn't have anything to do you with you! God you just like listening to yourself talk!" Tohru leaned back and sighed. Everything was right with her little world as Kyo threatened to staple his cousins lips shut.

"You know, I wish we could have a simple dinner without all this fighting for once."

"Rat-boy." Kyo poked his chopsticks in Yuki's direction, "Meilin bet me that we couldn't be in each others company for more that an hour before we start fighting."

"That was why you lost?"

"Shut it! You have to help me with this."

"I don't see how this is my problem Kyo."

"Just do this, I'll never ask you for another thing as long as I live. And you know I hate asking for this now."

"How do we prove it?"

"Meilin suggested dinner."

"Dinner?"

"Tomorrow night, at the _Okonomiyaki_ place. And to make sure I'm not cheating, she'll be there too."

"I don't know how this should make me change my mind." Yuki took a bite of rice and shook his head in denial.

"I'll pay ok? Tohru, you wanna come, right?"

"Ahh…" Tohru blinked, suddenly invited into the conversation.

"You're not working?"

"No, I'm not, Kyo…"

"Then it's settled." Kyo sneered, knowing that his cousin wouldn't let him go on a date with Tohru by himself.

"You're paying Kyo." Yuki finished his dinner and got to his feet. "I have homework to finish, excuse me, Tohru, Shigure."

"Yeah, yeah, and a nice night to you too." Kyo replied as Yuki left the room. He told himself he should be smug at tricking Yuki so neatly.

"Kyo…" Shigure smiled devilishly. "What was that?"

"Shut up."

"I'll find out eventually."

"Not if I have anything to do about it." Kyo muttered.

"So you were lying?"

"Kyo?" Tohru clenched her hands together nervously, "Whats going on?"

"Meilin and I made a bet for the outcome of our match."

"So what did you loose?" Shigure took a sip of tea and leaned back into his padded cushion chair.

"I have to set her up on a date with Yuki." Kyo sulked, which caused tea to shoot from Shigures nose as he coughed in shock.

"Kyo!" Tohru grabbed a napkin and flung it at Shigure without any of her usual decorum. She grabbed Kyo by the shoulders and shook. "I can't believe you bet something like that!"

"What? Its not like I bet for him to fall in love with her or anything!"

* * *

"So if we take this part of the circle, and move it over here…" Sakura and Li sat with a diagram between them on the floor of Syaoran's living room.

"No, if we move that part we'll make a negative where we need a positive." Syaoran wiped his mouth and pulled on his lower lip. "We need someway to make the negative flow out of the circle while keeping the positive in it." He erased part of the diagram and completed the circle. "Opposite ends…"

"Keep a positive Pole on one side, outside, and a Blank on the other side." Meilin fluffed her hair at the entrance mirror after bouncing down the stairs.

"Where are you going Meilin?"

"On a date." she smiled when Sakura tipped her head and muttered her adorable, "Pwee?"

"Tell Yuki I said hi, and tell Kyo we're still working on it." Syaoran muttered as he played with the drawing, putting in Meilin's suggestion.

"How is it that nothing I do surprises you?" Meilin huffed.

"I'm the most powerful mage in our family and you question how I know you bet Kyo that you could beat him in exchange for a date with Yuki?"

"Really?" Sakura laughed, "that's clever Meilin!"

"Glad you think so. So I'll pass on your little message to Kyo, maybe he'll want to talk to you about it." Meilin stuck her nose in the air, playfully being a brat, and sailed out the door in a majestic sweep.

"He'll have to put in some information sooner or later." Li looked up at smiled at Sakura, and tapped the paper with the end of his pencil. "With this solution, I think sooner, don't you?"

* * *

Meilin walked into the restaurant and scanned the tables for a gray haired head. When she didn't see one she went to a table and sat. The waiter brought her a soft drink while she waited. She didn't wait long, she heard them well before she saw them.

"Stupid rat!"

"Then don't walk so close to the curb."

"You didn't have to move into the middle of the sidewalk!"

The doors opened, Meilin smiled when she saw Tohru in the soft pink slip dress that Yuki's brother had made for her. Meilin stood to greet her, ignoring the boys who where growling at each other.

"Kyo…" Meilin hugged Tohru and patted Kyo's arm in warning.

"What?" he glared down at her, then remembered where he was. "Oh, sorry."

Yuki blinked, usually the only person Kyo was so immediately apologetic with was Tohru, he guessed that his defeat must have temporarily scrambled his brain. Either that, or there was something about the girl that made Kyo comfortable enough around that he didn't want to alienate her. Though he had been seeing a marked tendency in his cousin to defer to the group of friends that had suddenly sprung from nowhere. Yuki was more wary of the team than he let on. From the first moment he saw Meilin, especially, he felt like there was something pushing him into a situation he wasn't prepared for.

"That's ok Kyo. Its good to see you, Tohru, Yuki." She hugged Tohru and held out a hand to the gray haired boy. "Thanks for treating Kyo." she kissed Kyo on the cheek, smiling mischievously when he blushed.

"Its nothing." he scratched the back of his head and he steered Tohru into the booth and sat next to her, leaving Yuki the seat next to Meilin after she sat. Tohru noticed the blushes and looked down at the menu with more interest than it really deserved. Meilin smiled up as the waiter returned and the others ordered before Kyo really looked at the man.

"Toya-san!" He yelped in shock after ordering a coke.

"Just order already kitten." Sakuras older brother drawled, too used to having people recognize him on the job to really care that he may have shocked the teenagers sensibilities.

"Damn it Kyo!" Yuki growled, "Does everyone know?"

"Oi!"

"Boys." Meilin reminded Kyo of his fake bet. He grumbled a little, but ordered _Tonpeiyaki _as Meilin gloated over her double victory. Not only did she get to boss around Kyo for an evening, but she was sitting next to Yuki. She didn't know what it was about him that made her want to know more, but she was getting her chance to ask.

"Meilin?" Toya wrote down the boys orders and smiled gently at Meilin, "What would you like?"

"Tohru and I will have _Modanyaki_." Meilin shut the menus and handed them to Toya, who folded them under his arm with the ease of practice.

"Hai." Tohru agreed. "Thank you."

"Just be careful with these guys. Their auras are weird." he glared at Kyo as he said it, who glared back. Yuki just sighed and shook his head.

"She is perfectly safe with us." Yuki mumbled. Tired of the evening already.

"She better be." Toya left them and Kyo went back to muttering under his breath.

"Its not my fault. It's not like it was my stupid magic card that complicated things…"

"Oh, by the way, Kyo…" Meilin tilted her head, "Li asked me to tell you something."

"Fine, Do you mind Tohru?" Kyo excused himself from the table when Tohru shook her head.

Yuki scooted out and let Meilin leave.

"Syaoran asked me to tell you that they think they know how to reverse the curse. They just need to talk to you and get some specifics before we can work out when and where." Meilin revealed when they were far enough away from the table. "I didn't know if Yuki knew what we were doing and I didn't think you'd want Tohru to know if we ended up wrong about it."

"Meilin." Kyo patted her shoulder, which was as close to a heart felt hug as he could get, "thank you, all of you for helping me with this…" he looked back at the table with the other two. Yuki was looking at Tohru while she was just looking at the table, her hair hung down so even if she did look up she wouldn't meet Yuki's gaze. "But whats up with your sudden interest in Yuki"

"I don't know Kyo." Meilin watched Yuki with a sadness that Kyo knew was a form of female expression he would never understand. She was sad, but not upset, not crying, and happy at the same time. Maybe it took ovaries to be able to feel like that?

Toya came back, plopped some ingredients onto the flat metal placed in the center of the table, turned the heat on, turned around, glared at Kyo and Meilin and stalked off again. As he walked away he shouted, "If you try and flip those yourselves you die!"

* * *

* * *

heehee! ok, so if you've been reading or watching Tsubasa or you know how Toya has a marked tendency to be working where ever Sakura goes then you were giggled right along with me for this scene. by the way, if your not watching/ reading Tsubasa, then you should! Li has some awesome fight scenes! and the art is just amazing!

anyway, sorry for the lack of updates, but thanks to every one who reviewed! please keep it up!

Tanka! (by the way, a little while ago i passed one hundred reviews! ahh! and i didn't do anything to celebrate! I feel like such a cheap date!)


	19. walking home and waltzing with GLOW

The dinner past without much incident, Toya slapped Kyo's hand once for trying to turn his own meal, but other than that the boys behaved themselves. Tohru and Meilin chatted like old friends, trying to get the boys into the conversation, but neither cousin was going to do more than grunt so they gave up. More than once Meilin was struck by how caring and nice Tohru was, it was easy to see why both boys liked her so much. But she noticed, that while Kyo always sounded slightly defensive around Tohru,Yuki always sounded like he was giving a lecture. Yuki acted more like a big brother, though she was sure he thought differently. It was a small reassurance, but it did make her feel better about her own feelings toward the boy. At first she thought she'd have to make him face up to the reality that Tohru liked Kyo, which was obvious to her eyes. But during the dinner she realized that she only had to open his eyes to his own feelings of the girl. It took a huge weight off her mind. Not that she was in love with the boy herself, but she couldn't even date him if he thought he loved another girl.

Kyo watched the wheels in Meilin's mind turn. Not literally, but the girl was obviously scheming something. After they paid for dinner and started walking out Tohru turned to Yuki and bit her lip nervously.

"What is it Honda-san?" Yuki asked kindly.

"Well, I don't think Meilin should walk home alone…"

"It's ok Tohru, I can defend myself." Meilin replied proudly, knowing that now Yuki was stuck walking her home anyway.

"But its dark now, and… well… there are weirdo's around here… right Kyo?" she remembered Shigure telling her about the sicko's who prowled along the woods outside the house when she first moved in. Then she blushed remembering how she smacked Kyo with her briefcase that one time thinking he was one of them.

"I'll walk you home anyway." Yuki turned with Meilin when they reached the corner and left Tohru and Kyo to go the other direction. It gave him a slight pang to know that Kyo was taking care of Tohru, which he thought was his job, basically since she started living with them. He got a little nervous whenever he couldn't keep an eye on her.

"She'll be fine Yuki-san. Kyo won't let anything harm her." Meilin smirked. The boy was as clear as glass.

"Excuse me?" he was shocked from his musings.

"Kyo won't let anything harm Tohru, he'd protect her with his life, as you would." Meilin linked her hands behind her back and turned her head to watch him as he tried to fumble for an excuse. "Its cute."

"I just wouldn't want anything to happen to her. She's had more grief in her life than anyone really should."

"She told me about her mother. She sounds like she was a very nice person."

"According to Tohru there is no one better." Yuki nodded, "and from what I've seen of Tohru, its true."

"She also told me her mother used to be in a gang." Meilin laughed when Yuki coughed and didn't comment. "Its ok, it sounds exciting. Kind of like an adventure, like Sakuras cards."

"Now the cards…" Yuki paused, unsure of how to phrase the question.

"You want to know if they're real or if Kyo was just having you on."

"Well…"

"They're real Yuki, completely, one hundred percent real." As they got closer to the house Meilin noticed that Sakura's skates were still leaning against the porch railing. "If you want we can ask Sakura if she wants to give a demo."

"Ahh… I wouldn't want to impose…" Yuki started to back away, realizing that they were nearing her house.

"Don't be silly." Meilin scolded, grabbed his hand and started forward. She paused for a second as his hand closed over hers, they paused and swallowed at the same time their eyes met. She stepped toward him, he stepped toward her… and the street light above them blinked out.

"Maybe…"

"Come on, she'll show off." Meilin dropped his hand but didn't move. He didn't move but let his hand drop to his side.

"I should go."

"No. Stay."

"Ok."

* * *

Li decided that the best place for a demonstration was the gardens in the back yard. The space was open and there was less chance of anything being broken by the mischievous cards. Sakura was their master, but that didn't mean they didn't still have a playful side.

"Maybe FLOWER?" Sakura asked Syaoran.

"She doesn't like it at night though."

"Right… ummm… OH! I know!" Sakura laughed and pulled Yuki into the middle of the clearing with her. He looked down at her and put his hands into his pocket.

"What's going on?"

"Trust me, you'll love this." Meilin yelled from the side of the clearing, where Syaoran joined her. Casually he placed his arm over her shoulder and gave her a slight squeeze. Since he and Sakura had started dating he'd gotten much better at the casual show of affection. It was something that Meilin appreciated coming from him, who was so hard to gauge in his emotions. He was having fun showing off to Yuki, and he wanted to let Meilin know it. So she smiled and rested her arm around his narrow hips in a kind of half hug. Yuki noticed the by play as Sakura tucked her hand into a large pocket and pulled out a pink backed card. He frowned slightly as Meilin squeezed Li back. He fleetingly wished he could do that… he blinked at the thought, but before he could fully analyze it he realized that Sakura was muttering under her breath and holding the card ahead of her with the thin side toward her face. As she muttered he shivered, the air around them grew cold and a faint blue glow stretched along the ground. If he had magic in his blood beyond the curse he would have seen a bright magic circle on the ground that stretched from the girls feet and out in a perfect circle with symbols and incantations of protection etched along the sides.

"GLOW card and SONG card!" She flipped the cards and separated them so that Yuki could see the figures painted on the faces of the cards. "Work together to create a _waltz_!"

"OHH!" Meilin sighed as the GLOW card stretched from the card and created little people dancing in midair to the music that the SONG card piped out from seemingly nowhere. It was a simple spell that Li had Sakura perfect while she was fine tuning her control. It was peaceful and created quite a show, one that Yuki could admire as a couple of dancers passed around him, the tiny male whirling the girl around while her dress created a circle of light around them as they twirled. Syaoran squeezed Meilin gently, then released her to hold his hand out to Sakura.

"May I have this dance?"

"ILLUSION!" Sakura didn't need all the prep work anymore to have her cards know what she wanted. She'd just used that to impress Yuki. So knowing that Li was being fun, she decided to make a showing of it. She used the ILLUSION card to make a flowing dress over her jeans and let Li swing her into a waltz. While they reenacted the dance they performed during a play a few years before, Meilin walked over to join Yuki as he watched the GLOW cards dancers.

"This is amazing." Yuki whispered, as if afraid a larger voice would scare away the music.

"Yes, it is, Sakura's gotten much better at controlling her wards." Meilin looked over and sighed as she caught Li looking down at Sakura with a soft passion that she envied greatly. Yuki followed her gaze.

"They look perfect together."

"They were meant for each other." Meilin shook her head and looked down, "I never really had a chance."

"You and Li…?" Yuki glanced over Meilin and took her arm, carefully keeping their bodies apart he swung her in a graceful circle and lead her into a dance. Though Tomoyo had told him about the promise Li had made Meilin, he still wanted to hear it from her.

"When we were kids I made him promise that if he didn't find anyone else he liked better than me, then we would get married." Meilin smiled up at him, "he found Sakura, so I bowed out. I didn't like it at first, but look at them… they were made for each other."

Yuki nodded, he'd noticed that since the first time he met them. The way he talked about her, the way she smiled at him. It made him desperately jealous, so he always found himself stiffly formal around them. He hated being envious of anybody, he always felt it to be such an ugly emotion. If he'd wanted to be honest to himself he would admit that he felt like that every time he found Kyo and Tohru alone somewhere.

"Kyo said that they were researching the curse when they came to the Sohma compound."

"They want to help." Meilin admitted. "they don't know if its possible yet."

The music slowly faded, along with the glowing figures. Sakura stood in the middle of the clearing again, her jeans present instead of the dress, and she tucked three cards away after thanking them. "We're going inside, Yuki, you're welcome to join us for a movie or something."

"Please, come." Meilin tugged his hand. Again, like he had under the dark streetlamp, Yuki felt an electricity at her contact, like a sharp spark. He thought it over for all of two seconds.

"What movie?"


	20. grosse point and hand holding

"We could watch Princess Bride again." Sakura pulled the dvd from the shelf and looked back at the boys, "though maybe something else…"

"What about that one that your brothers friend translated?"

"The reunion one?"

"Yes, I don't think we've watched it all the way through yet."

"Meilin?"

"Sure."

"Yuki?"

"I guess…" Yuki sat on the corner of the couch as Meilin seated herself on a pillow on the floor in front of him. "What's it called?"

"It doesn't look like the translations correct on the cover."

"What does it say?" Sakura flipped the case over and studied the Japanese title that had been placed over the English version.

"It actually says Reunion Blank. I don't think that's the real name." Sakura shrugged. "But Yukito told me that the voice over's were actually really good. Like the Princess Bride ones."

"Lets try it." Meilin shrugged and leaned back against the couch, her head "accidentally" brushing Yuki's leg. He shifted slightly, but she patted his foot. "Is it going to cause any problems if I fall asleep on your leg?"

"No." Yuki felt himself flush. Meilin deliberately let her head rest on his knee.

"Okay then." Sakura flipped off the lights and joined Li on the other end of the couch just as the music began and the scene opened on a man talking to his secretary over an ear piece. He quickly assembled a sniping gun while she taunted him with a letter concerning his high school class reunion in Gross Point, Michigan.

* * *

Kyo held Tohru's hand as he walked her home. 

"I feel kind of weird setting rat-boy up like that."

"Its was nice Kyo." Tohru squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"I know. But I'm not supposed to be nice to him, or actually enjoy myself around him. Dinner was fun, even with Yuki around."

"Yes, I was impressed by both of you."

"Why does it have to be both of us." Kyo muttered and kicked a rock from the path.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Kyo looked over and smiled. Tohru smiled back. She liked him best like this, when there was noone else around he forgot sometimes to be tough and just was. It was a side of his that she fell for every time. She wanted nothing more than to just wrap her arms around him and hold tight. She cursed the circumstances that kept them apart. She looked away and let her hand drop from his.

Kyo stopped walking, but she kept going for a few steps before she realized he was no longer by her side.

"Whats wrong Kyo?"

"I was about to ask you the same question Tohru. You've never let go of my hand before." he almost couldn't breath. Did he do something wrong? Why was she stepping away from him?

"I'm sorry Kyo, I didn't realize…" she cut herself off realizing that she had hurt him. She was so sure that she wouldn't be able to…

"If you don't want to hold me hand you only have to tell me Tohru." he struggled for a smile to hide the hurt. He started walking and didn't speak again until he was a few steps beyond her, "I'll stop reaching for it."

* * *

"_I'm a killer."_

"_Do you get dental with that?"_

Meilin laughed with her entire body. For the last half hour Yuki had forgotten the movie and watched Meilin instead. Her entire focus was on the movie, as if she were going to be tested on it later. As the hit man on the screen continued to tell his friend that he was in fact what he said he was, and the high school classmate continued to crack jokes about it. The girl he loved in high school and disappeared on didn't believe him either, but proceeded to humiliate him over her radio show.

"…_and dude I think you should make him wear that prom dress!" _

A call in to her show made Yuki laugh absently, picturing his brother in a long white wedding dress and finally realizing that it was funny instead of humiliating. But it didn't look like the man on the screen agreed with the sentiment. He watched as the man progressed from being humiliated on the air, to finally asking the girl he ditched on prom night to go to the class reunion with him.

"_I should have worn a skirt." she muttered._

"_I should have brought my gun."_

"_What?"_

"_Should be fun!" he corrected himself brightly. _

Yuki found himself smiling absently as Meilin sighed over the romantic scene with the two on the balcony and blushed a little at the scene were they "catch up" on missed time in the locked nurses office. Li and Sakura laughed over the drunks bumbling attempts of poetry and critiqued the kick boxing scene between the two hit men in the hallway.

"He just stabbed that guy in the neck with a pen." Yuki frowned.

"Ingenious." Li agreed, though Yuki hadn't complimented the technique.

"Ouch." Sakura winced when the girl walked into the bloody scene.

"_Its not me." the hit man denied.

* * *

_

Tohru walked behind Kyo until they got to the house. They didn't have a fight, so why did it feel like something horribly wrong had just happened? He opened the door for her, slid out of his shoes and went upstairs, leaving her frozen just inside the door.

"Torhu? Yuki? Kyo?" a thin reedy voice came from Shigure's study. Tohru followed the voice until she stood just outside the room. Shigure continued to talk though she did not say anything.

"So how was the double date? Wonderful huh? Perfect! Its about time you kids made some friends outside of this house you know…" he looked up from his computer and finally took in the silent Tohru.

"Shigure?" Tohru felt the tear slide down her cheek, but did not have the strength to wipe it away herself.

"Tohru, you look like death." he got to his feet and held her shoulders gently. "What happened? Where are the boys?"

"Kyo's upstairs… Yuki took Meilin home…"

"Then whats wrong? You can tell me sweetie."

"Kyo doesn't…"

"What did he do?" Shigure knew for a fact that the boy would never harm Tohru, but he did know that his cousin was sometimes stupid and careless with his words.

"He doesn't want to hold my hand anymore."

"Huh?"

So she sobbed out the story to him and let him rub her back gently bringing her attention back to something besides her own confused grief.

"Tohru, darling. I don't think that's what he meant." Shigure allowed himself to be amused by the miscommunication.

"What?"

"I think he thinks that you don't want to hold his hand anymore."

"What? But…" she started to argue, then remembered that she dropped her hand first…

"And we both know that's not the case… right darling?" Shigure laughed as she blushed bright red.

"Ahhh… right." she nodded.

"Go on upstairs, take a bath, sleep on it. Morning is soon enough to mend matters."

* * *

"Its not me." Yuki pondered over the line. The man was so certain that the career he'd chosen had nothing to do with what he really was. He denied it, over and over again, that he was not a murderer. He was a tool for the one who wanted the victim dead. But did that absolve him of guilt? Of course not, and that was what the entire movie was about. Absolution. From the scene in his psychiatrists office… which Meilin had stopped so she could control her giggling… Yuki smiled absently, pig snorts, he teased her, only to have her deny it, then snort again… 

But what was his point? He found himself remembering how Meilins eyes shined as they waltzed, then how bright her smile was as she laughed over the movie, then moved to how her hands fluttered to express herself when she was out of breath. Soft hands, delicate…

He shook his head and tried to find his line of thought again. But it was no use, he couldn't get her face out of his mind. He kicked a rock before bounding up the steps with more energy than he had left the house that night. He slipped out of his shoes at the foot of the stairs and glanced at Kyo's open door as he walked toward his own. The cat had a frown on his face as he stared at a text book. He wasn't reading it, Yuki could tell, his eyes didn't move.

"Bout time you got home."

"Watched a movie." Yuki replied.

"Good."

"What?" Yuki had continued walking as Kyo talked, but had to turn back. "What do you mean?"  
"Nothing much, lover-boy." Kyo sneered.

"Explain before I kill you." Yuki's pleasant mood had been shattered as his cousin ignored him and continued not reading his homework. "Kyo…" he hissed.

"What! Leave me alone!" Kyo couldn't believe he'd started this fight. It was pointless.

"I want you to explain that comment."

"You can have anyone huh? Tohru. Meilin. It doesn't matter, they all like you better, it doesn't even matter if they were my friends before you even knew they existed."

"You're mad at me because you think everyone likes me more than they like you? Is that it?" Yuki shook his head. "You stupid cat."

"Why am I stupid?" Kyo got to his feet and almost relaxed into a fighting stance, but held himself back with a thin control. He felt ready to snap.

"Can't you see it? They'd do anything for you." Yuki frowned in disgust. "That's why your stupid. They only accepted me because of you. So if anyone should be pissed… It should be me. Go to bed you idiot." He turned on his heel and went to his room. Sliding doors couldn't really slam, but he gave it his all. Kyo heard and for some reason, pissing Yuki off like that had made him feel a little better.


	21. brilliant ideas and buckets of laughter

It was a beautiful morning. Meilin shot to her feet and stuffed them into fluffy slippers before wrapping a robe around her nightgown clad body and skipping down the stairs to where Syaoran was already awake and preparing breakfast after his morning workout.

"Sakura stayed late last night. Did you figure something out?" Meilin grabbed the toast that popped just as she reached the toaster and proceeded to butter both slices. She put one on each plate before turning to the eggs that he'd just abandoned in favor of the bacon. She finished the omelets with some cheese and vegetables and slid them on to the plates before going to the refrigerator to get the milk out. Syaoran put two crisp pieces of bacon onto the toast and picked up both dishes to follow Meilin and the glasses of milk out into the dining room.

"We need a shunt." Syaoran said as he started in on his plate.

"A shunt?"

"The spell is going to create a huge amount of energy. So while I keep the power stable in a shield we're going to need someone on the opposite side to absorb the energy and then feed it back into me and into the shield itself. You were right about that last night. It was a good idea." he nodded when she glared at him.

"You need a NULL." she accused.

"You don't mind, do you?"

* * *

Tohru was determined to let Kyo know that their misunderstanding the previous night was just that. But it was hard when the boy ran off to school before she could even say two words to him. She ended up walking with Yuki and Tomoyo in a depressed little silence. The last thing he said her her, _"I'll stop reaching…"_ did he mean it?

Tomoyo glanced back at Tohru, who was slowing down more and more as they walked. Yuki hadn't noticed though. So Tomoyo lagged back a little and took Tohru's hand. She sniffed gently and wiped away a stray tear with the hand that was unoccupied. Tomoyo looked down and tried to see through the girls concealing bangs.

"Whats wrong?" she asked softly, hoping that Yuki wouldn't hear. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to hover protectively over Tohru like he usually did.

"Nothing." Tohru denied.

"Ahh… does this nothing have anything to do with the reason that Kyo is not walking with us today?"

"Noooo…" Tohru sniffed again and squeezed Tomoyo's hand like a death trap.

"He's wrong."

"What?" the flat confidence in the wavy haired imp was enough to have Tohru blinking at her. "But you don't even know what happened!"

"It doesn't matter. The boy is always wrong." it was so unreasonable that Tohru found herself laughing despite herself inflicted mope. "That's better. Now lets duck into the ladys room and fix your face before everyone bugs you with their concern." She tugged Yuki's shirt and told him that she and Tohru were taking a detour. Amused by how the rat was distracted, and only grateful that he didn't really look at Tohru, she shoved Sakura into the nearest bathroom as they walked into the school.

* * *

Meilin didn't visit just so she could go to school again. But she decided that it wouldn't kill her just to see the new set up. So she walked next to Sakura as the auburn haired witch gestured to all sorts of things . The soccer fields, the swimming pool, the tree yard etc. She was more interested in the different people walking around. Some of them were quiet and studious, sitting on stairs or under trees. Others were more boisterous and took advantage of the open fields for club meetings or sporting events. More than not Sakura was hailed and greeted by the people they past, and as an extension so was Meilin. She was happy that Sakura was such a wonderful person that most people liked her. She wouldn't give up Li to any one who wasn't extraordinary. Meilin settled back for a second and reviewed her feelings over the situation. She was glad that Sakura and Syaoran were together. They really were like two halves of a whole, even more now that they had been the last time she saw them. Sakura brought Syaoran a joy to life that he'd never had before, while Syaoran provided a base for Sakura that she had desperately needed in order to grow into the woman she was becoming. They fit, and Meilin was more than happy to let them.

As they walked into the building Meilin heard Yuki talking to a boy standing in the doorway of one of the classrooms.

"You know Momiji, that you need to calm yourself. You've been in a mixed school for three years now…" his voice was soft as always, and the scolding he gave the young blond was taken in earnest by the boys bright blue eyes. He looked down quickly as Yuki ended the lecture, and pretended to be repentant. But Yuki was not to be fooled. His voice suddenly turned sharp, "I mean it Momiji."

"Yes Yuki." Momiji bit his lip, then looked up at his cousin with a smile. "I'll be more careful, I promise!" His laugh was so infectious that Meilin found herself laughing as well. Yuki coughed back his own laugh hastily as he felt a shiver travel down his spine at the full bodied chuckle. He'd been thinking about it so much he was sure that he was imagining it. But he turned around and smiled gently when he saw Sakura and Meilin approaching.

"Yes Yuki." Meilin teased, pulling a chunk of hair that fell in front of Yukis eyes playfully. "Does everyone obey you?"

"Yuki?" Momiji tugged Yuki's shirt in question, "She's not wearing the uniform?"

"She doesn't go to school here Momiji. She's Syaoran Li's cousin from Hong Kong." he explained patiently to the younger Sohma.

"Oh! OH!" Momiji clapped his hands together, then held one out to shake. "I'm Momiji Sohma! Its nice to meet you!" Meilin grasped the boys hand, then immediately changed the thought in her mind. This was no boy. The voice and eyes may radiate sweet innocence. But the young mans hand shake was firm and controlled.

"Meilin Rei." she replied, "it is good to be making your acquaintance."

* * *

"Its not that the zodiac member has to have someone to love them, its more the realization that someone could,they need. They need to know that they are worth something. That they are capable of love and to have that love returned." Li caught Eriol before class started, he desperately needed his ancestor to agree with him. Because no matter what he planned, the entire spell hinged on the zodiac being able to accept their lives without their curse.

"Are you going to tell Kyo your theory?" Eriol asked, setting himself down to sit on the desk. He was at eye level with Li, which unsettled the teenager somewhat. He had a creepy feeling that somehow he was being given a test.

"I'm not sure."

"Not sure?" Eriol let an eyebrow raise. It was intimidating from behind those large glass orbs. They reflected the light from the windows so that Li couldn't see the expression in his eyes.

"What if the foreknowledge of this somehow creates a doubt? I think that Kyo has seen that he is worthy of affection from the people around him. Most of them anyway. And Tohru has done that part of the spell for me. But if he knows that this piece in him is missing and needs the hope that Tohru gives him, the CAT might be able to break the trust they have in each other." he took a breath, "though if he doesn't know that he needs it, then the spell will break if he doesn't realize that the hope is the main component."

"So what conclusion can we come to?" Li breathed out and smiled as the answer became clear. From the open window the sound of Meilins laughter rang. Kyo was brooding on the roof, and Sakura was downstairs with Yuki and Meilin. Tohru and Tomoyo were walking toward the room, and suddenly he knew.

"I will not tell Kyo everything. I will tell him that when the time comes, he'll know what to do. I have faith in him, in my friend, that in his heart he knows he is worthy of love and friendship. The CAT has no hold on him other than the death grip on his throat that he will be gladly rid of." Eriol laughed as the door slid open and the girls stepped inside. Li smiled as his ancestors hand gripped his shoulder.

"Good job Syaoran," he grinned at the girls, who grinned back at their teachers infectious attitude. Suddenly Tohru felt much better, and Tomoyo gave Li a thumbs up. She knew, somehow, that what was being discussed would be a wonderful thing.

"I get to tape it." she whispered in his ear as she passed him.

* * *

Kyo sat on the roof until the bell rang. He sculked down the stairs and into his classroom seconds before the second bell and sat down with a frown on his face. But the mood in the room was too bright to allow him to sulk. Even Yuki seemed to be in an upswing. Meilin was sitting in on the class, she sat in the only available seat, next to Yuki, and needled everyone in the class when she began answering Eriols questions without waiting for him to call on anyone. It earned her a death glare from Eriol before she decided to shut her smart mouth. Kyo chuckled at the expression on her face, then shut up himself when Eriol pinned him with a death glare. Meilin then chuckled at Kyo, who chuckled back as the death glare was once again transferred.

"Maybe you two should learn some discipline." Eriol threatened. The entire class went silent.

"Ahh…"

"Maybe I should have you both stand in the hall for a while." he smirked as Kyo coughed. "Go." he demanded. As the two passed him he stopped them and handed them buckets that appeared from under his desk. "Don't forget to fill these up, nothing disciplines like the weight of a guilty conscience."


	22. this is spinal tap ?

"Next week is Family Night. Each class is going to do something to celebrate the cohesiveness of their class and the theme is going to be… the Zoo."

"The Zoo?" several kids questioned Eriol, but he smiled.

"It was my idea." Li felt his head slam down on the desk. His ancestor was such a trouble maker. "We will all dress up as our favorite animals..." he went on to explain his vision of putting his students in cages and having them act out as if they were really zoo creatures.

"Seriously Mr. Hiiragizawa?" Sakura raised her hand and waited for the punch line. She had been practicing reading auras, that and the fact that Li was beating his head against the desk with a methodical bump, made her think that their teacher was being funny.

"Psych!" he crowed. He chuckled as the students all relaxed. "No, we are really going to make a café out of our classroom. It'll be fun." He wrote sections on the board. "We'll need waiters and waitresses, cooks and clean up crew. Not to mention advertisers around campus who will pass the word around that our class has this set up and to lead people around the building during the festival."

"Sir, if we're going to talk about class cohesiveness…" a student sitting next to the doors raised his hand tentatively.

"Yes Mr. Saotome?" Eriol called on him.

"Maybe you should keep them alive sir?" he pointed to the thin door and the suddenly raised voices of Kyo and Meilin. They were threatening each others lives, in horrible graphic detail.

"Then I'm going to pull out your spine and stab you through the eye with it! THE BLUNT END!" Meilin continued at the top of her lungs.

"That's going to be hard after I tie your arms in knots!" Kyo snarled back. A dark shadow fell over them and a sense of cold foreboding made them shiver. They both looked up as the door slid open and Eriol looked down on them from his lofty height.

"Do I have to separate you two?" he teased. Though Kyo only growled in temper Meilin looked up and smiled.

"I was just pointing out some short comings, and some obvious mistakes my colleague has made in his impression of the female psyche." she stuck out her tongue at the CAT. What she had been doing was listening to him bitch about their punishment for half an hour, then teased the real reason he was pissed out of him. After that she called him a moron for freezing Tohru out when she was sure the girl didn't mean what he thought she meant. Then the insulting had begun. And he'd been having fun too.

"Come back inside, and keep your tempers on a low simmer if you can. I think everyone should have input for Family Night." his voice was stern with an underlay of humor. Meilin knew he wasn't really mad, and she thanked him with a nod for giving her the private time she needed to snap Kyo out of his funk. He winked at her as Kyo passed into the room, and she smiled back.

A week later and Li was closer still to perfecting the circle. He'd gone over it again and again, fine tuned his and Sakura's control over the new set up until they could both create the magical seal with a thought perfectly. All he needed now was the cooperation of a test subject and hope that the entire thing didn't collapse under him. He'd done plenty of magical practice and application. He knew that his theory was sound and his assumptions had so far checked out in the practical field. But he needed to talk to Kyo about it, to make sure that everything he'd learned about the curse was true in the present day as well as in the books he'd read.

But first…

Family Night.

* * *

Tohru and Yuki walked into the classroom just as Tomoyo pulled a thick stack of cloth from a bag. The students had agreed to wear all black as wait-staff, but Tomoyo couldn't help herself. She tossed half the students vests and the other half, the ones who were to hold out flyers and call out their specialties all got hats. Kyo walked in just a hat flipped in the air and fell perfectly on top of his head. He sighed in resignation when Sakura chuckled from behind him. 

"Perfect timing Kyo." she smirked.

"Right, right… just give me the flyers." He grabbed a stack from Eriol's desk and left the others frozen in his wake.

"What's wrong with him?" Tomoyo asked, her eyebrow raised. Kyo had been short tempered, even more so than usual.

"We're working with him on a project." Sakura said, not sure how much he'd told his cousin and Tohru, and well aware that there were other student's around that could overhear them. She pulled on the apron and smiled when she realized that the patterns on the front were Clow's magic circle.

"Nice." Li complimented and pulled on his own. Yuki looked out the window as Kyo ran down the stairs outside the school and began handing out papers to the early family's. He sighed, hoping against hope that the Sohma's would remain at home, but knowing it was impractical seeing as how four of the Zodiac attended school there. Momiji and Hatsuharu's class was doing a bake sale, but they promised to come up and sample the café if time permitted. Yuki knew that Shigure was looking forward to dropping in, the tune of "High-school girls!" playing in his pitifully empty of all else skull… He turned just as Sakura came up behind him, froze as the girl braced her hands on his biceps carefully to prevent their contact.

"Sorry." Sakura smiled a little nervously.

"Its ok, nothing happened." he cleared his throat and had Sakura moving her hands away quickly, fluttering them a little as she settled back on her heels.

"Tohru told me to tell you that you're tables are set up in the corner, over there." She pointed to where their desks usually were. The classroom had been set up with tiny round tables and chairs, large curtains hung around the room disguising blackboards and other school-like postings. If not for the laminated flooring and the obvious school clock it could have been a cozy little café. Tohru looked over and smiled at him.

"Maybe this won't be so bad after all."

* * *

"I'm feeling much better Hatori." 

"I know that but-"

"But nothing. Yuki will be there… he will be upset without the support of his family… all I want to do is to let him know that I approve of his choice not to live in Sohma-house…"

"_big fat lie_." it was said quietly, but the other man mearly smirked in response.

"You cannot prevent me. So call my car…"

"But-"

"Now."

* * *

ok, so if your as big a dork as i am them you recognized several references to other animes!

this is just me building up to BIG DRAMA which will hopefully put an end to some things, and lead up to the AWESOME endcap i have planned. The end is in site... now i just have to figure out how to get there. in the meantime enjoy.


	23. nails and brick walls

Yuki felt his back stiffen as he served a couple of girls in the back corner of the room. He shivered as he turned around and realized the rest of the people in the room where looking a the door. He was a tall man, white, flawless skin with a pair of large eyes that could make any girl swoon. But the twisted smirk on his face, as he watch Yuki, made the senior shake. He wore a plain black suit, with a small medallion over the breast pocket. It twinkled cruelly shining in Yuki's eye. Then the conversations started again, and the moment passed.

Akito sat at the smallest table situated where Yuki usually sat during class. Calculated so that Yuki would now remember him sitting there every time he went to school, Akito knew things like that, and took full advantage of them. Tohru moved to help him, but the head of the Sohma's waved her away and watched Yuki finish serving the order to the giggling girls who did not realize that his entire attention was on the man sitting behind them, not their developing flirtation skills.

Yuki took a deep breath, "you will not be intimidated, you will ask for his order, he will not cause a scene in a public place…" over and over under his breath until he got to Akito's table.

"Akito-san," Yuki bowed and did not look up. He could feel several eyes on him, customers and classmates who did not know why this young man was important enough to rate that courtesy.

"Yuki, I have not seen you lately." he smirked.

"You have not been well…"

"Then doesn't it reason that I would want you by my side?"

"Akito-san…"

"Sick people enjoy visitors."

"You were asleep…"

"What do you think you're doing here anyway?"

"Excuse me?"

"This school… its filled with accidents waiting to happen." he glared at the girls Yuki had just finished serving.

"I'm careful…"

"Obviously not enough if so many people know about the curse… who read my books?"

"Akito-"

"Who was that man talking about?" Akito hissed, his arm shot out and grabbed Yuki's wrist. He fought to keep the tray he held in his grasp. Akito tugged, Yuki gasped as the nails dug into his skin. But he had had practice in not crying out his pain during public confrontations like this, and Akito was not worried about discipline slacking for so little damage. He could feel a slight wetness against the tips of his fingers and was not impressed.

"Excuse me." a deep voice came from behind Akito. He froze in place, his fingernails still drawing blood from Yuki's wrist as he turned his head around.

"You." he snarled.

"I must insist that you release my student."

"You're a teacher?" he shook his head in amazement. "I'll have you brought up on charges."

"For what? Demanding that you stop assaulting my students?" Eriol cocked an eyebrow and watched with a straight face as Akito's fingers stiffly raised from Yuki's wrist. "Meilin, can you take Yuki to the nurses office?" his descendant was waiting behind him, in his shadow, for the moment to swoop in and take Yuki away. She complied readily and waited for Yuki to join her. His face was paler that Akito's, Meilin took and wrapped a white dish cloth that had been tucked into his apron, around his wrist. She guided him away with a hand to his shoulder.

Li and Sakura watched from the front corner of the room as the two passed. They had been making tea, and not noticed the confrontation until Eriol had come into the room and swore.

They watched as Eriol confronted the Sohma, and then as Meilin pulled Yuki from the room. Eriol leaned real close to Akito's face, and the pale young man started shaking. Then he stood abruptly and stalked from the room, his glare raking over every person in the room. Most avoided meeting his eye, but Sakura and Li lifted their chins. They were descendants of Clow Reed, no stupid curse would cow them. Akito snarled as he passed them, but kept walking until his angry footsteps no longer radiated down the hall.

* * *

The nurse was not in the office. She had been called away to treat a burn from one of the other classes who were serving rice balls and fried octopus. Meilin just sat Yuki down on a bed and rummaged around for creams and peroxide and bandage wraps. Yuki stared at the white wall, still unable to say anything, or think of anything at all. For a minute he had regressed to the boy… _that small boy in that large room… the pain had been constant, tiny pricks of it everywhere…disorienting and horribly sharp in his mind he had seen Akito standing over him with a cherry blossom branch, the tiny petals flying every which way as he brought it down… and down… and…._

"YUKI!"

"WHAT?" Yuki jumped as Meilin screamed his name.

"Whats wrong with you? I've been asking you questions for a couple of minutes now." She finished bandaging the wrist and tucked the end into the coils to hold it in place.

"Sorry…" he sighed and leaned back against the headboard. "Akito always turns me into a basket case.

"He's the one who was in a coma when we went to the estate, right?"

"He's the head of the family… and he seems to enjoy torturing others. Especially members of the zodiac… especially me…" he hadn't meant to confess, but she was sitting there so patiently, waiting for his words. For a second he revisited that dark room, but as he looked into her wide open eyes he saw himself standing with her… He jerked away quickly, realizing that he wanted nothing more than to just grab her tohim and bury his face against her stomach and just hide from the rest of the world. He panicked, he tried to convince himself. It was panic having him think those things.

"Oh, Yuki, I'm sorry…" Meilin wasn't sure if it was really the right thing to do yet, but the pain in his eyes decided her. She felt her hands cup his cheeks and turn his face to meet hers.

Yuki felt her breath lightly on his lips and trembled. His breath shaking in and out of his mouth. Meilin moved in and brushed her lips hesitantly over his, then stood back as he took in a deep breath and gripped the edge of the mattress with trembling fingers.

"Meilin…" Yuki closed his eyes and waited for the RAT to stop jumping in his stomach. He had his own nerves, and the nerves of his curse to deal with. Meilin stepped back and whipped her hands behind her waist.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" she chuckled shortly, ruefully at herself.

"I… No, I'm sorry… I shouldn't…" Yuki forced himself to stop stuttering, closed his eyes and hung his head. So many emotions, fear, anger at his own inability to stand up to Akito, that sharp sense of pain lingered in his wrist. Those conflicted terribly with the soft glow he experienced as Meilin's lips rested briefly on his own. Before he really knew what he was doing his arms reached out and slid up her arms. "Just one second is all it takes." he scoffed and pulled her into his arms.

For that one second she was against him, she felt his shiver and he felt her sigh. Then a puff cloud and she was falling, unbalanced, onto the bed. She caught herself on her elbows, well aware that Yuki could be completely squished by her if she fell on him. She shifted until she sat on the floor, and just watched as Yuki curled into a little gray fuzz ball on the end of the bed.

"Yuki?" she asked in a small voice.

"I'll turn back in a minute Meilin." his voice was the same coming from the tiny rat as it was coming from the taller human, but he sounded so tired that Meilin wanted to cry for him. She scooped him up and hugged the rat gently.

"Not if I still have you like this." Yuki froze for a moment but then sank into her arms. He could sleep like this, he thought, no dreams, no fears, in the circle of her arms.

* * *

Sakura and Li watched from the window as the head of the Sohmas stalked out of the front door, down the steps, and approached the orange haired boy passing out fliers to people entering the grounds. He never saw it coming and the two at the window where too far away to pass on the warning. Akitos hand whipped out and caught Kyos hair at the base of his neck. Quickly, because if it dragged on Kyo's training would assert itself, the scowling man whipped his hand back, pulling Kyo down, then shoved as forcefully as he could. Kyo bounced off the brick wall of the school enclosure and lay with his head in the grass, panting to keep his own CAT controlled. Akito knelt down, amidst the flyers that scattered the area, and whispered something into his ear. Kyo felt his fist clench in fury, but his fear of Akito was greater than a impulse to shove his knuckles down the older boys throat.

"We'll beat you." Kyo whispered as Akito got up and left, Hatori- who had been waiting at the entrance with the car- merely opened the passanger side door and let Akito settle before closing it carefully. He then made some move toward Kyo, as if asking if the younger Sohma was all right. He backed off as Kyo glared at him. "He's going to be in for a nasty surprise soon enough." Kyo growled.

Hatori frowned a bit at the triumphant look on his cousins face. In his experience an encounter with Akito left the younger cousins shaking, not smirking.

"What do you mean Kyo?"

"You'll find out soon enough Hatori." Kyo muttered as he began to pick up fliers.

"Kyo?"

"Go home and nurse the sadistic bastard Tori. He'll be getting his own soon enough."


	24. infirmary and serious conversations

Yuki didn't stay for the rest of the event. Eriol sent Li to let him know that if he wanted to go home to rest, that it would be fine. Li sent Meilin back to the classroom, after a bit of a hissed discussion she agreed.

"Yuki, I know that we haven't really been keeping you up to date on this amulet thing…"

"Right." Yuki leaned back against the wall and stretched his long legs over the cot.

"Do you want to know more? Do you want to hope that this will work?"

"Why do you care about this? What do you get out of it?"

"Cynical are we?"

"Lets just say that I haven't had much in my life to suggest otherwise."

Li sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze on his hands which he linked together between his knees. Yuki just stared at the window, large gray clouds were moving swiftly into position.

"I believe that I have this gift for a reason. To balance my soul, my power, and my life I have to use my magic to help others. My family has spent countless generations in perfecting this gift, just as your family has spent generations controlled by a curse. It makes an awful amount of sense that somehow our paths would collide to rectify a mistake that had been made when both our families were young. At this moment I am the culmination of all the Li family has learned about martial arts and magic. Now I create new magics that have never been dreamed of because of a new factor. Sakura."

"What does this have to do with the Sohmas?"

"I'm saying that before Sakura I don't think there would have been even a hint of a chance to change your fate. I'm saying, that if you trust us… we can help you."

"Trust you?" Yuki turned to look Li in the eye, Li met his gaze evenly.

"Yes."

"Trust is a very small commodity in this family."

"Then wait, and see the future you could have hadslip between your fingers because you're afraid to take this on faith. You have to believe us Yuki, or everything will all be for nothing." Li had never felt like belting anyone so much in his life. He struggled to keep his voice calm."Eventually every spirit must be captured, or the entire cycle will start again."

"Do your experiments on Kyo, leave me out of it."

"We need a balance Yuki. And you're going to need to figure out what it is you lack that would somehow balance you without the RAT." Li snapped, tired of the boys depression. "Snap out of your self-pity and take charge of your life for once." he got to his feet and stalked to the door.

"You think you have it all figured out don't you!" Yuki got to his feet, one hand clenched around the bandage on his opposite wrist.

Li took a deep breath and let it out as he walked over to Yuki. Quick as a snake his hand shot out, grabbed Yuki's wrist and tugged the other boy off balance. Yuki landed on the bed and watched, panting, as Li walked out the door.

After a minute of watching the door in disbelief he looked down at his wrist and frowned.

It didn't hurt anymore.

Unwrapping the bandages he swore under his breath, cursing the day Kyo ever introduced him to these people. They confused him. They made him think things were possible, great, wonderful things. Dancing in the moonlight. Just being with someone, and holding that person close.

He didn't even realize as he pulled the last layer of bandaging away and tested the smooth, unbroken skin with a tentative finger, that a tiny tear drop fell from his eye to the palm of his hand.

* * *

He had just pulled himself together when Tohru slid open the door.

"Yuki?" she asked hesitantly.

"Tohru…" he sighed. As much as he loved the girl, he didn't think he could handle another confrontation that day.

"Li-san told me that you were going to go home."

"Yes. I'm going to take it easy today."

"Maybe you should take a nap or something… you look tired. I can go home with you, make you something to eat?"

"Tohru, not right now." Yuki snapped, instantly regretting it.

"Oh… ok." she slid out of the doorway when he was about to call her back. But he truly didn't have the energy for it anymore. He got to his feet, straightened his clothes and walked out the door to head home.

* * *

_He was swirling, lost in the blackness. That crack! The screams! Begging… always beginning… why didn't anyone stop him? Why? A hand. A single thought of a hand reaching out… why did it seem so utterly useless. Blood reaches…pools by fingers and under a cheek laid on cold concrete. Why was he so alone…Maybe…_

"Maybe I deserve it." Yuki woke, he didn't scream or thrash at the feel of sweat beaded on his forehead. He wasn't trapped. The images in his head played over and over again, repeating the nightmare endlessly. But there was a warmth. Her laughter played out in his ears as his eyes relived pain and torment. Somehow it was soothing.

He needed tea. He got up from his nap and looked at the clock. It was almost dinner time, he couldn't believe he fell asleep like that. Rain steadily beat against the window.

"Gods, I'm acting like the stupid cat, a little rain and I'm down for the count." but knowing that Kyo was most likely laying in his bed and wouldn't be out of his room for dinner somehow made Yuki feel better about it. "At least I can walk straight when its raining." he scoffed to himself. He almost skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen. Tohru was standing at the stove mixing together something that looked like moss and red pepper. He had no idea what it was, but he knew he would love it.

"Yuki, you're up." Tohru smiled gently, "I thought you'd sleep the rest of the day."

"Sleeping was a good suggestion, I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"That's all right. I was going to see if you wanted to go to the store with me, but you looked so cute sleeping like that." she forced herself to smile. She had been up just a few minutes before, he had been shaking and crying in his sleep. She touched his shoulder to distract him and just about ran out of his room when he stirred, not wanting him to know that she knew about his nightmares.

"You should have woken me up." he shook his head, maybe if she had then he wouldn't have remembered… "I would have gone with you, help you carry things." he struggled to keep his voice light and unemotional.

"Yuki…" she paused, took a half step toward him as he set the tea pot down on the stove.

"What?" he smiled. But it was an empty smile, one that she knew from when she first moved in. He was hiding from her, and she couldn't stop herself.

"I know!" she blurted out.

Yuki blinked. "Know what?" his voice was soft, but the fear and nagging anger behind the cage wall was shaking it.

"You haven't slept without nightmares since I've known you! Sometimes they aren't bad enough to make you scream in the middle of the night… sometimes they are…" she forced herself to look him in the eye, it never occurred to her that she was probably the bravest person in the world at that moment, facing down the curse and Yukis own raging storm.

"Tohru…" Yuki had no idea what to say. He started to back away from her and then forced himself to stand.

"Just tell me what I can do to help! I want to help you Yuki!" She stepped forward and grabbed his arms, as close as she could get without turning him into the animal he despised.

"There is nothing you can do for me Tohru." he muttered, "I shouldn't even know you… Akito was right, you're just going to end up hurt."

"Akito is a bastard, he just said that to hurt you today! He wanted you hurt so you would close yourself off again!"

"He told me you would never be able to return my feelings. He tells me this every time I see him." Yuki lifted his eyes to pin hers. "And he was right, wasn't he?"

"Yuki…" Tohru whispered, then followed him as he turned away and stalked to the outer door. "Yuki! Look at me!" she snapped as he opened the door to the porch.

He turned and walked out into the rain, watching her the entire way. She stepped out onto the porch and watched as the darkness swallowed him. Suddenly terrified she stepped out of the light from the door and ran to grab his arm.

"Tohru, I love you." his eyes were wide and pleading, all she wanted to do was gather him into her arms and rock him like a child. Give him comfort, and receive it in return, but he was lying. If not straight out, then by some way he didn't realize, and she couldn't let him do that.

"No, you don't Yuki." she ducked her head and shook it from side to side. Her hair dripped as the rain fell, soaking them both. She could only pray that it continued and Kyo would stay inside, asleep as the cats melancholy consumed him.

"Yes, I do, Tohru… I know what you're thinking…"

"You couldn't be close Yuki. What I'm thinking is that at this moment you're scared. So you came to me because I'm safe." she smiled and placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Safe? Tohru…"

"No. Listen to me. You're not in love with me. I've known this for a while. You love me, like a sister or a cousin, but you're not in love with me. Trust me, Yuki. One thing I've learned since I started living here is how to gauge emotions. Yours are so huge Yuki," she dropped her hands to his shoulders and shook him gently. "But you lock them up so tight that even you sometimes misinterpret them." She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest, clenched at the collar of her shirt. He just stood, blinking at her, he could almost hear his heart drop into the acid in his stomach. "You're in love Yuki," she shook her head, "but its not with me."

The rain began to slow as they stood there, both frozen in the hole of silence that had suddenly been created between them. The drops fell indiscriminately and as Tohru took a breath one dropped on her nose.

"Tohru…"

"You have two options right now Yuki. Come inside and pick a fight with Kyo, which will be easy considering the weather, or you can go to your garden and think for a while… which is what I know you'd rather do. " she turned back to the door and started inside, "We're having salmon tonight, be back for dinner."

* * *

OHHH! I'm SOOO mean to leave you with a depressed Yuki! I know! I know!

But the good news is...

I'm DONE!

so one chapter a night till the end and we are almost there! woooohoooo!


	25. rain

Tohru stood at the stove, just staring at it blankly as she shivered, suddenly realizing how cold it was. She really should light the stove…

"I had to say it." she pleaded with herself. A knock on the door gave her an excuse to stop watching the stove. Mechanically she walked to the entrance hall and slid open the door. "Meilin?"

Meilin immediately knew something was wrong. The normally bouncy girl was staring at her as if every emotion she'd ever felt had been stolen.

"Tohru, are you…" Meilin stepped in, slid out of her shoes and took the other girls shoulders. She steered Tohru into the family room and sat with her at the table, her legs bent under gracefully as Tohru just sprawled with her feet hidden by her massive skirt. "Tell me about it."

"I told Yuki…"

"Told Yuki what?"

"That I didn't feel…" Tohru gasped a sob out, "that I didn't love him like he wants me to… and now…" she buried her face in her hands and shook.

* * *

Tohru sat at the tablet, just sat, playing with her fingers as she watched Meilin disappear into the woods. 

"Oi!" Kyo announced himself as he staggered to the table. He sat on his knees and laid his forehead on the smooth wood. "God I hate the rain." he groaned.

"Kyo, what are you doing out of bed?" Tohru shook out a blanket and put it over his shoulders.

"I was bored, I thought I'd come down and yell at the rat until I couldn't stand up anymore."

"He's out."

"Damn it… the one time I actually…" he looked up at Tohru , "Hey."

"Yes?"

"You sad about something?" he sat up, his apathy momentarily forgotten in his concern.

"No." she sniffed, trying to hold it in.

"Yes you are!" he accused, then put his head back on the tablet, with a thud. "Go on," he groaned, "tell me about it."

"Yuki-san hates me!" Tohru whined piteously.

"No. He doesn't." Kyo suppressed another groan, the last thing he wanted to hear about was rat-boy's romance with the girl he wanted for himself.

"Yes he does! He got upset when I told him I don't think of him as anything but a friend! And then he got mad and he was sad so I told him to go and weed his leaks! And its raining and he's going to catch a cold!"

Kyo was still back at "friend". He blinked as Tohru started talking about Meilin and how she set the Chinese girl to sooth Yuki's bent feelings because Yuki really loved Meilin and vice- versa. But the entire gist was lost to the cat as he realized the coast was clear. Tohru didn't have any attachments to Yuki! He still had a chance! He had to know…

But first he had to get her to stop blubbering.

"Oi!" he interrupted her. Tohru looked up from ringing her hands and her lip quivered. "There is no way that Yuki hates you. I know that damn rat like the back of my hand. I don't want to- but I do. So I know I'm being truthful when I tell you that Yuki will get over it. He may be upset right now, but sending Meilin after him was a good solution, she'll fix things and they'll be fine. Besides, the rat deserves everything he gets. Don't loose sleep over it."

"You really think so?" she sniffed as he grabbed her hand to reassure her, and just for a split second, Tohru's fingers curled possessively around Kyo's.

* * *

There was a rock by Yuki's garden that had enough of a smooth seat, worn in it by years of the troubled boys visits. Tohru's voice ran in his head and he shook it, determined to clear it out. 

"How does she know?" he muttered, "I should know my own feelings."

He heard her before he saw her. She stumbled over a tree root and cursed softly.

"Meilin." he acknowledged without tuning around.

"Yuki, Tohru told me you'd be here." she stepped out from under the trees shadow. It was still raining, but not enough to be more than a small annoyance. She held a translucent umbrella limply over one shoulder.

"Yeah, she sent me away." he scoffed to himself and rested his chin on a bent knee.

"Excuse me?" Yuki blinked and shifted to face her.

"Sorry, we had a bit of an argument, she got frustrated, well… no… actually I got frustrated and she kicked me out to play with my vegetables." He gestured toward the green tips pushing out from the cultivated ground.

"Oh, cute." Meilin looked up as a drop of rain plopped on the plastic umbrella. "Well, for heavens sake." she smothered a chuckled as the rain fell faster.

"What do you want?" Yuki asked rather abruptly as she shifted to share her umbrella with him. He was moping, he didn't want the sunny Chinese girl to detract from that. She raised her chin and looked at the clouds through the umbrella. The remaining light was soft, her features looked soft and her eyes, vulnerable all of a sudden. Yuki felt his palms go damp. Meilin looked over and noted his scowl. He was uncomfortable. Good. She knew how to deal with touchy boys, she'd been playing Li like a fiddle since they'd both been kids. Yuki just had a weird curse to be grumpy about instead of magical gifts.

"Li wanted me to come speak with you and Kyo." she didn't look at the boy, but she knew that being cryptic would elicit more curiosity than just coming out and saying it.

"About what?"

"I have to explain the technical aspects of it, so it might be easier just to tell both of you at once."

"Kyo will be sleeping right now, he won't be up for anything until it stops raining, even just talking wears him out." he grabbed her hand as she turned to walk away. "Technical aspects of what?" realizing that she paused and looked down at her captured hand, he scowled and tossed it aside like she were poisonous. "Like I care. Leave me alone Meilin."

"You're so stupidly depressed Yuki. You forget everything you have because of a stupid thing like a curse." Meilin spat, letting her mouth take control of the situation.

"You've known me for three weeks Meilin, you know nothing about me." Yuki just let himself shiver in the rain, wishing she'd leave him alone.

"I know a hell of a lot more than you think I do." She stomped over to him and slapped her hand on his back. He caught his breath sharply and angled away. "What I didn't know about your family already I could have guessed by how insanely scared you were this afternoon." She didn't let her hand fall from his back, instead she slid it under his shirt and traced the multiple scars, the raised patterns that had healed over when he was still young. "Did anyone love you?"

"_They're not your family! You're mine now! They gave you to me! Now tell me you won't disappoint me Yuki…_

Lighting suddenly burst from the sky, the heavens opened up, and Yuki leapt to his feet.

He pushed her to the ground, her arms fell limp at her sides as he knelt beside her.

"You don't understand this curse, it is not something that can be ignored or just made better by a simple thing like love." Yuki got to his feet as Meilin stared at the sky.

"You know, Yuki, I used to think that my destiny was to be by Li's side." She still remembered the day Li told her, admitted that he didn't love her like she wanted, like she needed him to. "But then he met Sakura, and the way they resonate, the way they are together just forces me to admit that I had no clue what I was talking about."

"So? What does that have to do with this? With us?"

"Yuki, I'm not a naive little girl anymore. When I look in your eyes I see what Li and Sakura have… and I'm not a person to sacrifice my own happiness because the person who loves me is uncomfortable with it." Yuki turned to watch the girl as she sat up and looked at him, deep into his soul.

"You don't know what I've been through, what you'll be going through… Akito…"

Meilin swore something pithy in Chinese and got to her feet. She grabbed Yuki's head and yanked his lips to meet hers.

"That's what I think of Akito."

"Meilin…" Yuki blinked, his breath shook as her hands released his head. She looked away, but not before he saw the quiver of her lip.

"Yuki…" she'd almost had enough of falling for guys who'd inevitably pick the other girl to fall for. She pushed herself to her feet and took a deep breath before looking down at the silent boy. "Never mind." She clenched her fists and turned away, but before she could leave his hand shot out to grab her wrist.

"Meilin." Yuki tugged, pulling her down into his lap, his lips swooped down as his hands rested on her stomach, keeping their torsos from contact. His lips rubbed warmly over hers, his teeth nipped gently at her lower lip shocking her into response. She whispered his name as he deepened the kiss, her eyelids fluttered shut as her hands pulled his lips closer and tangled in his hair. His fingers twitched as they inched higher, brushing lightly against the bottom of her breasts, he longed to grab her and press her against his body, but it wasn't too hard to control as he concentrated and melted onto her lips.

"Meilin." He whispered gently as his lips traveled to kiss her eyelids. He tasted tears and moved back to lay his forehead on hers.

"I can't take this anymore." She sniffed, "you don't love me, you love Tohru, but you'll take me because I'm here." She opened her eyes and glared, "That's it, isn't it?"

If he didn't see the tears in her eyes, or the quiver of her lips, he would think she was just angry at him. But her heart was cracking, Yuki could hear it in her voice.

"Meilin, I don't know what I'm feeling." He admitted, "but what I feel towards you, has nothing to do with Tohru." He wiped away the tears with his thumbs and kissed each cheek gently. "When I have you with me like this, I don't even think about her. All I see are your eyes. Even when you're mad at me, I love them."

"Yuki." Meilin whispered so he mover his ear closer to her lips, "I really need you to let me go right now." Her breath hitched as his fingers uncurled from her shirt.

"Meilin. I… I really don't know what to do about this." Yuki looked away, down at the grass.

"Neither do I." She admitted as she got to her feet. "Come on, Li wanted me to talk to you and Kyo about the cure." She turned away from him, and started down the path toward the house.

* * *

WOW! A little hot'n'heavy there huh?

to tell you the truth, this scene between Yuki and Meilin is the very first thing i wrote for this fic... i've been waiting FOREVER to use it!

enjoy!


	26. Circles and circles

Kyo sat cross-legged as Sakura stood behind him. Sweat ran freely down his face as she unwrapped the talisman and placed it in the palm of her left hand. In her right she held the LIGHT and the DARK, those two cards that were always to be used in sync. Her eyes glowed blue as she began the incantation; the sapphire in her palm matched their brilliance. Kyo fought the urge to run, to escape, knowing it was the CAT inside of him that wished him to flee. A lifetime spent with its will imposed on his own, he had to deny every instinct he'd ever had, and he needed to focus on his trust of his friends. He groaned suddenly, a deep clenching pain in his stomach, where the CAT resided, had him clutching his sides in agony.

"Kyo!" Li shouted above the angry roaring in his head. "You can do this! Deny the CAT, you are NOT him!" Energy swirled around Li's hands, the barrier he'd erected shimmered as the magic of the amulet swirled around, trapped by his protections. Kyo shuddered, pushing at the claws that threatened to cut his insides.

"Ignore that bastard Kyo! You can do it!" Meilin cheered as the energy shunted from the two in the middle rushed through her and deflected through the shield back to Li.

Sakura shouted the last of the chant, her hand, clutching the sapphire now, brought the gem down to rest on the back of Kyo's neck. The glow transferred itself, flowed around Kyo's body, and into it before he'd had the time to blink as the warmth spread. The CAT stilled, the pain ceased, and Kyo breathed heavily.

"Its trapped, but its not dismissed. Take some time Kyo, calm your self. Then we'll proceed." Sakura, too, panted heavily as she sank to her knees. Her forehead rested on Kyo's back as the strength left her neck and arms. Kyo sat still, allowing the use of his back as a pillow until she could gather her powers again.

"Sakura, refresh your energy from the power I'm sending through the spell. The shield can take it, trust me. Just like I showed you." Li still held the barrier erect, but he smiled at them both. He had the training and the capacity that Sakura still lacked. Though she'd been getting steadily better, he knew he was the one this venture counted on the most. He kept the people not involved in the curse away, a little magic barrier a mile wide kept wanderers from the woods that night. And his magic barrier around these three people he cared for deeply kept the world safe in case something went wrong.

Sakura smiled as the shield around her fed her strength. She whispered a thank you, and got to her feet.

"Kyo, lets finish this."

"Hai." Kyo agreed, bent his head again, and shuddered as a sudden cold brushed his neck.

"You are not welcome here." Sakura stated as the CAT tried to exert itself.

_Who are you to tell me where I can go?_

"I am the one who speaks for this boy." She replied, refusing to be intimidated. She had stared down Yueh when he tried his best to forsake her right, She defeated Clow himself when he pushed her to her breaking point. The angry soul of a CAT would not bring her down.

_Leave me be, I have much yet to do._

"You can do nothing but cause pain."

_I have a destiny, you may not disrupt my revenge. _The angry words echoed through all their minds. Meilin shivered as the CAT tried to push her away.

"Your revenge is tearing apart so many! You have no right to toy with people this way!" Meilin shouted angrily, not only thinking of Kyo, but of all the others also. She pictured Yuki sitting miserably in the rain, denied the comfort he needed. Then the fearsome hope in his eyes after Meilin had kissed him.

"Sa…ku…ra…" Kyo whimpered at the CAT growled deep inside his stomach. It was trying everything in its power to dispute Sakuras claim. It slashed out, but not at Kyo…

"You will leave him!" She shouted deflecting the black energy the CAT had expelled and shooting it toward Meilin, who didn't feel the pain of it, but shuttered at the force, "He is no longer yours!" The energy shot from Meilin toward Li, who gathered it all with a grunt and shot it back, clean, to Sakura.

_He IS mine! MINE!_ it growled its hatred as the beads around Kyo's wrist began to glow.

"He is under my protection!" Sakura enforced, the sapphire suddenly going hot in her palm as she shoved her power through to confront the curse.

_He is MINE! His soul belongs to ME, not YOU witch!_ The beads grew brighter, so bright that Kyo had to close his eyes.

"Sakura!" Kyo shouted as the twisting in his stomach shot up through his arm and down into the beads. "He's trying to jump!" He could feel his limbs going limp at the CAT started to pull him into the beads with it. "It hurts!"

"Don't worry Kyo!" Sakura prayed the boy could hold onto himself for just a second longer.

"LIGHT AND DARK ANSWER MY PLEA

OPEN MY EYES SO I MAY SEE

THE TWISTING OF THE THREADS

HOLDING THESE TWO INTWINED

SO THAT I MAY CUT

THE TIE THAT BINDS!" she shouted into WIND, her eyes glowing as the LIGHT card shone brilliantly onto the curse to reveal its weakness, and the DARK card sat beneath the threads to pinpoint the two that would separate the CATs hold on Kyos body and soul.

"SWORD CARD! Give me the power to CUT the shackles of the CATs imprisonment!" She called out, flinging her staff to the side and shearing through the threads as the wand became a thin bladed sword, and shattered the connection as Kyo slumped, unconscious, to the ground.

Sakura watched the light that was the CAT as it fluttered around, trying to release itself from its self-imposed cage in the beads that still encircled Kyos wrist. With an intense distaste for the bracelet Sakura eased it off her friends hand. She felt it try to jump into her, but she was ready for it. Heraura flared brightly, in effect blinding the CAT until it had no choice but to retreat. It bounced off Kyo again, Li's shield having shifted to include the young orange haired boy.

"You can stay in those beads forever, CAT," Sakura growled,"or you can join the other curses in the jewel. Pick now, because I can guarantee that after I'm done enchanting this bracelet the only contact you'll have with anything is as a perfectly harmless, poorly made, bead bracelet."


	27. its about time!

"Kinomoto?"Eriol stood in the front of the class and frowned at the girl. "Kinomoto!" he shouted.

"Pweeeee?" she yanked her head up from the desk and looked around in shock. "Pwee?" Kyo hid his grin as the teacher repeated his question and Sakura answered sheepishly.

"Good. Now no more sleeping in my class."

"Hai sensei." She hung her head, just enough so that the desk looked comfortable again, but she forced it up and kept it up as Li snuck his hand over to lay quietly on her shoulder.

"Just get through this period, then I'll take you home." He whispered.

"No, I'll be fine Li, I just have to… I have to …to…" she yawned hugely, causing giggles to erupt all over the class.

"Kinomoto."Eriol frowned again, with just a hint of a smirk. "Go to the nurses office and sleep it off, if you can't concentrate."

"I'll take her." Kyo nodded to Li andEriolagreed.

"That's fine, but come right back Sohma."

"Hai, sensei." He nodded.

Once in the hall Sakura grinned as Kyo took her arm.

"How does it feel?" she asked, leaning her head against his shoulder. Just the day before, he'd have been a cat, instantly. He still stiffened, but relaxed as he helped her down the hall.

"It feels weird." He admitted, "It's funny how many of my emotions where enforced by that damned curse. I looked at Yuki this morning, and I just couldn't drum up the energy to hate the guy. And when Shigure started teasing me this morning, I didn't grumble. He seemed slightly put off though. Like he thought maybe I was sick or something." Kyo laughed.

"So you haven't told them?"

"For some reason I thought it would be obvious. You know?" Kyo shrugged, "Are you all right though? You look like you've been hit by the semi-truck of dreams."

"It was a major casting last night Kyo, I'll be feeling a little sleepy until the power overload wears off."

"Overload?" Kyo helped her into the office and searched around for a nurse. Apparently the one on duty was taking a break. So he sat next to a cot after settling her in, and found a blanket to lay over her. "I would think that something like that would drain you."

"Yeah, well, there was so much energy being produced, that it all had to go somewhere…" she yawned again and closed her eyes, "You could probably ask Li what… what…" she yawned as Kyo chuckled.

"Never mind, I'll talk to Li. You get some sleep."

"Kyo?" Sakura asked as he turned to leave.

"Yeah?" he paused at the door and looked back at her. Her face was too pale, but the grin on it was totally Sakura.

"Are you happy?" It was such a small question, but it was something he could never remember anyone asking him before. So he stood there and searched, carefully for the answer.

"Sakura, I can truthfully say, that for the first time in my life, I Am." When she smiled, he turned away, and closed the door quietly to let her sleep.

* * *

"Oi, Tohru!" Kyo ran through the house, looking for the girl. She seemed to have disappeared since they'd walked home together.

"I'm in here Kyo." she called from the kitchen, the sunny day had perked her up a bit. For some reason Kyo seemed really off that day, thinking she might have done something to upset him had her worried. Suddenly she felt a tear drip onto her cheek.

"Tohru? You're crying?" Kyo's eyes narrowed as they swept the empty room. For some reason, coming across a distressed Tohru never failed to make Kyo feel as if he were a white knight on some valiant steed.

"No!" she sniffed, giggled forcibly, wiped away the stray tear, and smiled brightly.

"Don't cry." she sniffed again as he ran his hand over her eyes.

"I'm not."

"I have a surprise for you." he smiled gently. "But you can't get it if you don't tell me what you're crying about."

"Oh, Kyo, you didn't have to bring me anything."

"Well, I got you something that you'll never see unless you tell me why you're upset."

"You're being really nice to me Kyo!" Tohru felt the tears start up again.

Kyo just blinked. "Your crying because I'm nice to you?"

"And everybody else too! You didn't yell at Yuki this morning! And during lunch you let Momiji hug you! Are you ok? Are you getting a fever?" suddenly her hands were on his forehead.

"I'm in a good mood and all of a sudden I'm sick?" Kyo tried to work out the logic and failed miserably. "All right, stop crying, I'll tell you- or better yet, I'll show you why. But I want to talk with you first."

"Talk?" she asked in a small voice as he took her hand and led her to the porch. He sat her down on the edge and went out to pace in the yard.

"Li and Sakura have been helping me with this, so it might sound a little weird…"

"Kyo…"

"My life was really dismal before you showed up."

"Kyo…"

"Let me finish." he glared then cursed himself for glaring, which only made his eyes fiercer. But Tohru relaxed, this was the Kyo she knew, the one pissed off for what ever reason. She could handle this Kyo.

"Go on." she grinned.

"My life basically sucked, then I fell on you and everything started to change. Some mornings I would wake up and I wouldn't know why I should be angry, because I could hear you in the next room, singing." he pushed his hands through his messy orange hair before shaking his head and cracking his neck. "And then you'd make me breakfast and start talking about really inane things, and it didn't even piss me off. It would piss me off when you treated Yuki the same way though. And then I realized that it didn't matter. I really want to say this Tohru. When I first met you I thought that you'd go for Yuki."

"Yuki isn't…"

"I know." Kyo cut her off, "I know that now. Like I know that Yuki and Meilin are starting to shape into a pretty stable thing…" he shook his head, he was getting off track.

"Yes, they're very sweet."

"Whatever." Kyo growled. "I'm through talking." he stomped over and leaned down. Captured Tohru's cheeks against his palms and pressed his lips to hers. He ripped himself away just as hastily and rested his forehead against hers. "I love you Tohru." he whispered. She was frozen, her chocolate eyes blinked slowly as she took a deep breath. Then she smiled.

"Oh… ok…" she closed her eyes and took another breath. Kyo was rooted in place.

"Ok?"

"Ok."

"Good then." suddenly he swept her up and off the porch. He was strong enough to hold her like a doll for the few seconds when his smiled grew to the size of the chessire cats. "Here's my surprise!" He swept her in, holding her fast against his chest. Tohru held her breath, waiting for the POP and the cloud of smoke. She was waiting to catch Kyo into her arms with such concentration that she didn't notice that he didn't change until a full minute had passed.

"Kyo?" she pushed at his chest, marveling at the muscles that were clenched under his shirt. She couldn't suppress the laugh. "Oh wow!" she flung her arms out, knocking his from her body, but only so she could fling herself back into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck, while his snaked around and wrapped around her waist. He savored the feeling of a warm body next to his. Of her soft curves against his stomach, her breasts pressed against his chest. Her heart beating in time, pounding against his own.

"I can't believe it." he muttered, taking a deep breath and smelling the strawberry shampoo that seemed to define Tohru. "It really, really worked!" though Sakura had leaned on him he hadn't been convinced. He wanted his final proof to be Tohru, and there she was, wrapped around him as he had only imagined in the past.

"Kyo?" Tohru was suddenly very still.

"Oi?"

"Do you mind if I tell you something?" She hesitated, pressed her cheek against his.

"Go for it, nothing could ruin my mood right now."

"I didn't want to tell you before because I thought you'd get sad." she sighed, "But now I can tell you this… Kyo, look at me."

They both leaned back and stared into the others gaze.

"I love you."

He could almost feel time freeze. Every part of his body stiffened as he struggled to draw breath. He hardly realized when he shifted, holding her head as he angled to capture her lips with his own. She tried to mutter against his lips, but gave up and sank into the embrace. Wrapped in each other they failed to notice the door slide open.

"Oh, excuse me." the door slid shut again… for a grand total of 5 seconds, then…

"WHAT THE HELL?" the door crashed open again. "Kyo? Tohru?" a hand clapped on Kyo's shoulder, his lips broke from Tohru's as he glared at Shigure and growled.

"Go away. Go very far away!" Tohru just giggled breathlessly, nervously as she caught the expression on Shigure's face. It was pale white with shock, his eyes larger than dinner plates.

"But how?" his gaze traveled down to where Kyo and Tohru looked to be hooked together at the waist. "WHATS GOING ON HERE?" his voice broke as he hit the upper register.

"Yeah, Kyo, did it work?" Yuki walked in behind Shigure, he too noticed Tohru, "stupid question?"

"It worked." Kyo was smiling stupidly. "Li said it should only take about a week for the overload to drain. Then its your turn rat-boy."

Yuki walked into the room and sat at the table. Kyo pulled Tohru down into his lap and the three waited for Shigure to calm down and sit with them. Kyo smiled and looked at his older cousin.

"I think we all need to have a talk."

* * *

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

ONE MORE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I've gone insane. please review to make me better!

epilogue goes up tommorrow!


	28. epilouge

Epilogue

* * *

"So far so good." Li sat with Sakura on her front porch, the sun was just setting and the light in the sky had a subtle pink to it. Kero lay, snoring gently on Sakura's lap, every once in a while he'd shift position, move his paws as if he were chasing something. 

"Pudding… come back…" he muttered. Li coughed to hide the laugh that threatened to boil up.

"Akito wasn't happy with Yuki when he told Akito to shove it." Sakura leaned her head against Syaoran's shoulder and scooted closer when his arm draped over her shoulder.

"The look on his face was priceless."

"Especially when the shield pushed him out of the way."

"Was is just me or did he scream?"

"LIGHTNING didn't like him. I think he got a bit of a shock." Li looked down and pushed Sakura's bangs from her eyes.

"Sadistic little…" he admired as she giggled.

"He shouldn't have tried to stop us then. The look on his face when Yuki hugged Meilin… THAT was priceless." Sakura changed the subject slightly, though she wasn't in the least offended.

"It didn't seem to take as long with Yuki as it did with Kyo. You've definitely recovered quicker." Li kissed her forehead and tilted her chin up to look into her sea green eyes.

"If it keeps going like this, I predict that the zodiac curse will be contained by the end of the school term." Sakura nodded.

"That's good…" Li leaned over to kiss Sakura gently on her lips. They were waiting for him with a slight smirk. "I love it when you sneer at me." he muttered against her lips.

"Not sneering…" she muttered back, "I'm… reading… your… mind…" it got harder to breath as his arms encircled her waist and pulled her closer.

"Yeah?"

"You're thinking we should take this inside… maybe… up to my room…"

"You are truly talented." he admitted, leaning his forehead against hers so both could catch their breaths. Sakura picked Kero off her lap and placed him on the table just inside the door as they removed their shoes. The stars were just coming out, and it felt like they had all the time in the world.

* * *

It was as if time had stopped. The house was quiet except for the clicking of keys coming from Shigure's office, and Tohru's humming in the kitchen as she prepared dinner. 

Yuki sat with Kyo on the porch outside the living room. Both were silent as the sun set brilliantly over the mountains. Both turned at the same time to enter the room and sit for dinner. Tohru and Shigure watched as the two picked up their chopsticks and began to eat. Shigure and Tohru just watched.

Kyo felt his shoulders tighten as Shigure smiled slowly.

"What are you smiling at?" he demanded.

"Nothing Kyo-kun."

"Don't call me that." His hair didn't stand on end like it used to, but his shoulders tensed more.

"I'm just happy that you and Yuki are getting along Kyo-kun." He continued as though Kyo hadn't spoken.

"I told you-"

"Will you be quiet please?" Yuki mumbled. "I'm trying to eat."

"Shut up ya damn rat!"

"Oh forget it." Yuki slapped his chopsticks on the table and grabbed his cousin's shirt. "What did you call me?"

"A RAT! A dirty, good for nothing RAT! It doesn't matter that the spirits gone! You'll always be a RAT in my eyes!"

"Screw you, you stupid cat!"

"Boys! Boys!" Shigure waved his napkin like a peace flag.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" they both yelled at him, making his bangs sway in the wind of their anger.

"I guess the more things change…" he muttered, chastised.

He looked across the table to were Tohru sat, her chopsticks moving steadily as she ate, and watched with delight as the two boys threatened each others lives.

"Yes, yes. The more things change," he paused as Yuki threw Kyo through the paper door, and sighed, "The more things stay the same…. Yuki…Kyo..." he pleaded,"please don't wreck my house…"


End file.
